The 1998 Tasmanian state election was held on Saturday, 29 August 1998 in the

Australian state The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

to elect 25 members of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

. The number of members was reduced from 35 to 25. The election used the Hare-Clark

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

systemHouse of Assembly Elections

Parliament of Tasmania The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the governor of Tasmania (as representative of the King), the Legislative Counci ...

.—five members were elected from each of five electorates. The quota required for election increased from 12.5% to 16.7%. This election saw the end of two years of a Liberal

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

headed by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Tony Rundle Anthony Maxwell Rundle AO (5 March 1939 – 4 April 2025) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from March 1996 until September 1998. He succeeded Ray Groom and was succeeded himself by Jim Bacon. He was a Liberal wh ...

, supported by the

Tasmanian Greens The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign. They form a part of the Australian Greens. Followi ...

. The Labor Party won government in its own right for the first time since

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, with Jim Bacon as premier. Labor retained all their seats despite the reduction in numbers. The Liberals lost six seats. The Greens' representation was reduced from four members to one— Peg Putt in Denison.

Results

Distribution of seats

References

Tasmanian Parliamentary Library: 1998 election results

Voting by Division from Adam Carr's Electoral Archive

Notes

{{Tasmanian elections Elections in Tasmania 1998 elections in Australia 1990s in Tasmania August 1998 in Australia

Results

Distribution of seats

See also

References

Notes