2025 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election

2025 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election

3 May 2025
3 of the 15 seats in the Legislative Council 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   IND Party Independent Liberal Labor Seats before 1 1 1

The 2025 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election is scheduled to be held on 3 May 2025 to elect three members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council.[1] The seats of Montgomery, Nelson and Pembroke will be up for election.[2]

Background

Unlike other Australian state parliaments, the Tasmanian House of Assembly is elected from multi-member districts, while the Legislative Council is elected from single-member districts.[3] The reverse is the case in most of the rest of Australia; that is, the lower house is elected from single-member districts while the upper house is elected from multi-member districts.[3]

The Legislative Council has 15 seats, with members elected to a six-year term.[4] Elections are staggered, alternating between three seats in one year and in two seats the next year, taking place on the first Saturday in May.[3][4]

Tasmanian's upper house is unique in Australian politics, in that historically it is the only chamber in any state parliament to be significantly non-partisan.[5][6] As of 2024, the chamber has a plurality of independents, although it has previously had an outright independent majority.[7][8]

Electoral system

Legislative Council elections use partial preferential voting and the Robson Rotation.[9] In elections with four or less candidates, full preferential voting is effectively used, but for seats with five or more candidates, voters only have to number at least three boxes.[10][11]

• Where there are more than 3 candidates, at least number 1, 2 and 3
• Where there are 3 candidates, at least number 1 and 2
• Where there are 2 candidates, at least number 1

Montgomery

2025 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election (Montgomery)

3 May 2025
Electoral division of Montgomery in the Tasmanian Legislative Council
First party Second party   IND Candidate Stephen Parry Casey Hiscutt Party Liberal Independent
MLC before election Leonie Hiscutt Liberal Elected MLC TBD

Montgomery is located on Tasmania's north-west coast, covering the Central Coast Council and the south-eastern suburbs of Burnie.[12][13] The seat has been held by Liberal Party member Leonie Hiscutt since 2013, when she succeeded retiring independent incumbent Sue Smith, and she was re-elected in 2019 with 60.17% of the two-party-preferred vote.[14][15]

On 16 May 2024, Hiscutt announced that she would not seek re-election in 2025.[16][17] Her son, Central Coast councillor Casey Hiscutt, announced on the same day that he would contest Montgomery as an independent with her endorsement.[18][19] Former senator Stephen Parry, who served as the President of the Senate from 2014 until 2017, was announced on 15 June 2024 as the Liberal candidate.[20][21]

Candidates

Party		Candidate	Background
	Liberal	Stephen Parry	Former senator for Tasmania
	Independent	Casey Hiscutt	Central Coast councillor
	Tasmanians Now	Gatty Burnett	Candidate for Murchison in 2023[22][23]

Nelson

2025 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election (Nelson)

3 May 2025
Electoral division of Nelson in the Tasmanian Legislative Council
First party Second party   IND Candidate Meg Webb Marcus Vermey Party Independent Liberal
MLC before election Meg Webb Independent Elected MLC TBD

Nelson is located in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart and includes parts of the Hobart and Kingborough municipal areas.[12][24] The seat has been held by independent member Meg Webb since 2019, when she succeeded retiring independent incumbent Jim Wilkinson.[25][26]

Webb announced in 2024 that she would seek re-election.[27] On 23 June 2024, the Liberal Party announced that butcher Marcus Vermey would be its candidate.[28][29]

Candidates

Party		Candidate	Background
	Independent	Meg Webb	MLC for Nelson since 2019
	Liberal	Marcus Vermey	Butcher and candidate for Clark at 2024 state election

Pembroke

2025 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election (Pembroke)

3 May 2025
Electoral division of Pembroke in the Tasmanian Legislative Council
First party Second party   Candidate Luke Edmunds TBA Party Labor Greens
MLC before election Luke Edmunds Labor Elected MLC TBD

Pembroke is located in Hobart and covers the Clarence municipal area.[12][30] The seat has been held by Labor Party member Luke Edmunds since a by-election in 2022, which he won with 63.26% of the two-party-preferred vote.[31][32]

On 2 November 2024, Edmunds was re-endorsed by Labor for the 2025 election.[33] The Greens have expressed interest in contesting the seat.[34]

Candidates

Party		Candidate	Background
	Labor	Luke Edmunds	MLC for Pembroke since 2022[35]

References

1. Coulter, Ellen (15 January 2025). "Calls to dump Tasmanian MLC Leonie Hiscutt from Liberal Party after she promotes her independent candidate son". ABC News. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
2. "About Legislative Council elections". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 28 December 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
3. Raue, Ben. "Tasmanian Legislative Council elections, 2024". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
4. Bowe, William (3 May 2024). "Tasmanian upper house elections: Hobart, Prosser, Elwick". The Poll Bludger. Archived from the original on 21 June 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
5. "Government and society in Tasmania". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 20 June 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
6. "What is the Legislative Council?". Meg Webb MLC. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
7. Forbes, Scott (21 August 2014). "The apple in Val Schier's eye: Former mayor heads to Tasmania and attempts new tilt in politics". Cairns Post. Archived from the original on 21 October 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
8. Crowley, Kate; Lippis, Joshua. "Independents in Tasmania's Legislative Council: Analysing strategies to achieve influence" (PDF). Australasian Study of Parliament Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
9. "Voting systems in Tasmania - A summary". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
10. "How Should We Solve The Problem Of Unintended Informal Voting?". Dr Kevin Bonham. 23 July 2020. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
11. "Preferential Voting in Single Member Electorates - Tasmania". Electoral Council of Australia and New Zealand. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
12. "Legislative Council Elections 2019 - Divisions". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 24 October 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
13. Bonham, Kevin (3 April 2019). "Legislative Council 2019: Montgomery". Dr Kevin Bonham. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
14. Coulter, Ellen (27 June 2018). "Labor wants Upper House Liberal Leonie Hiscutt reinvestigated over land use dispute". ABC News. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
15. "Legislative Council Elections 2019 Results - Montgomery". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. 4 May 2019. Archived from the original on 22 October 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
16. "Leonie Hiscutt, Liberal Member for Montgomery". Premier of Tasmania. 16 May 2024. Archived from the original on 18 October 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
17. McGuire, Simon (16 May 2024). "Casey Hiscutt announces intention to run for Upper House seat of Montgomery as his mother Leonie announces she will step aside". The Mercury. Archived from the original on 16 May 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
18. "Cr Casey Hiscutt". Central Coast Council. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
19. Flint, Jess (16 May 2024). "Leonie Hiscutt confirms plans to step aside as independent son eyes seat". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 15 June 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
20. "Stephen Parry". Tasmanian Liberals. Archived from the original on 16 October 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
21. Flint, Jess (16 June 2024). "Parry promises 'law and order' as he puts hand up for upper house seat". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
22. Ford, Sean (23 August 2024). "Lambie-baiting firebrand starting party to tackle 'Tasmania's rotten core'". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 9 November 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
23. Raue, Ben. "Murchison – Tasmania LC 2023". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
24. Bonham, Kevin (24 February 2019). "Legislative Council 2019: Nelson". Dr Kevin Bonham. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
25. Humphries, Alexandra (14 May 2019). "Anti-pokies campaigner Meg Webb claims victory in race for Tasmanian Upper House seat of Nelson". ABC News. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
26. "Independent wins Tas upper house seat". SBS News. 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
27. "Meg's 2025 re-election campaign!". Meg Webb MLC. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
28. "Marcus Vermey". Tasmanian Liberals. Archived from the original on 16 October 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
29. Bailey, Sue (22 June 2024). "Liberals endorse local butcher Marcus Vermey for Leg Co seat". The Mercury. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
30. Bonham, Kevin (12 August 2022). "Legislative Council 2022: Pembroke By-Election". Dr Kevin Bonham. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
31. "2022 Legislative Council by-election results - Pembroke". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. 10 September 2022. Archived from the original on 22 October 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
32. Sato, Kenji; Killick, David (13 September 2022). "Labor's Luke Edmunds officially declared victor in Pembroke by-election". The Mercury. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
33. Bailey, Sue (2 November 2024). "Luke Edmunds endorsed by Labor to run again in upper house". The Mercury. Archived from the original on 2 November 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
34. "Are you our next candidate for Pembroke?". Tasmanian Greens. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
35. "Luke Edmunds MLC". Tasmanian Labor. Archived from the original on 13 October 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.