A general election for 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 ...

was held on Saturday 20 July 2002. The

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

government led 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 ...

Jim Bacon was won a second term against the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Opposition headed by Opposition Leader Bob Cheek in a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

. The election was marked by a strong swing to both the Labor Party and 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 ...

at the expense of the Liberals, with Cheek losing his own seat. Bacon and the Labor Party campaigned on a platform of revitalising the state after the 1990s-era economic reforms of successive Liberal governments, while maintaining law and order and a strong economy, and promoting tourism in particular. In response, Cheek and the Liberals claimed that the government had abandoned small business and promised a wide range of spending initiatives - something that was seized upon by Bacon as a means of attacking the Liberals' economic credentials. The

, under leader

Peg Putt Margaret Ann Putt (born 5 June 1953) is a former Australian politician and parliamentary leader of the Tasmanian Greens. Early life Putt was born in Sydney and attended school at Hornsby High School. At the age of 16, she won a scholarship to ...

, campaigned as an alternative to both major parties, concentrating on environmental issues, which are often an area of bipartisan agreement among the Tasmanian major parties. The results of the election were somewhat unexpected. The government retained its 14 seats in the 25-member parliament and recorded a swing in their favour in all five electorates. The Liberal Party had held ten seats before the election, but lost three to the Greens, who subsequently went from one to four seats. The Greens gained 18.1% of the statewide vote, their highest on record. In the

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

-based seat of Denison, the Greens polled 24.5%, outpolling the main Opposition Liberal Party. The election had major impacts on both the Liberals and Tasmanian Greens, while leaving Labor largely unchanged. The Liberals suffered a swing of over 10 percent and lost three seats, including that of their leader, Bob Cheek–the first major-party leader in Tasmania to lose his own seat since 1903.

Rene Hidding Marinus Theodoor "Rene" Hidding (born 5 February 1953) is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member for the Division of Lyons in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1996 until his resignation in 2019. From 2002 until 2006, he was ...

was elected as his successor. In contrast to the misfortune of the Liberal Party, the election saw the unexpected revival of the Greens. The reduction of the size of the Assembly in 1998, from 35 to 25, had increased the quota necessary to win a seat to 16.7%. Both major parties portrayed this as a way to cut the costs of government, but the Greens saw it as an attempt to eradicate them. At the 1998 election, all of their MPs except one,

, were defeated. However, they managed to markedly increase their vote in the 2002 poll, and picked up three new MPs, Kim Booth,

Nick McKim Nicholas James McKim (born 11 June 1965) is an Australian politician, currently serving as a Senator for Tasmania in the federal parliament. He was previously a Tasmanian Greens member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly elected at the 2002 ele ...

and Tim Morris.

Results

Primary vote by division

Distribution of seats

References

Tasmanian Parliamentary Library: 2002 election results

Voting by Division from Adam Carr's Electoral Archive

{{Government of Tasmania Elections in Tasmania 2002 elections in Australia July 2002 in Australia 2000s in Tasmania

Results

Primary vote by division

Distribution of seats

See also

References