The Tasmanian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division) and more simply as the Tasmanian Liberals, is the state division of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

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 ...

. The party currently governs in Tasmania as one of three Coalition affiliate governments above the state level. The party is part of the federal Liberal Party of Australia, currently in opposition. The Liberals currently govern through the Premiership of Jeremy Rockliff.

History

In 1904,

Elliott Lewis Eliot or Elliott Lewis may refer to: *Elliott Lewis (politician) Sir Neil Elliott Lewis (27 October 1858 – 22 September 1935),Scott Bennett, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 10, MUP, 1986, pp 94-95. Retrieved 2009-09-13 Austra ...

established the National League, which changed its name to the Progressive League in 1907. While Lewis became Premier of the state in 1909 under this banner, the League itself shortly disappeared. Its successor was the

Tasmanian Liberal League The Tasmanian Liberal League was a political party in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was founded in 1909 and merged into the Nationalist Party in 1917. During its existence it formed a two-party system in the Parliament of Tasmania with th ...

, founded later that year in collaboration with the Tasmanian Farmers and Stockowners Association. In 1917, the League affiliated with the

Australian Liberal Union The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fu ...

. Following the removal of

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...

from the leadership of the Labor Party, the League merged again to become the Tasmanian National Federation. It shared government with the Labor Party from 1912 to 1923, and then from 1928 to 1934. Despite the establishment of the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Australia, from 1932 until his death in 1939. He held office as the inaugural leader of the United Australia Par ...

, the party continued using the name National until 1941 when it changed its name to the 'United Australia and National Organisation'. In 1945 the party came under the umbrella of the new Liberal Party of Australia. The Tasmanian Division of the party was formed at a meeting in Hobart on 13 February 1945. The first state candidates stood at the 1946 election, most of whom were ex-servicemen. The organisation recruited them by arguing that in the services they had been fighting for freedom, and it was now their duty 'to finish the job'. The party first formed a government in Tasmania 1969. In 1982, Robin Gray was elected on a platform of commitment to building the Gordon-below-Franklin hydro-electric power scheme. Continual blockades from the Labor Federal Government lead to the Premier threatening to secede from the Commonwealth if any further intervention was taken. Despite the lack of success in the Tasmanian Dam Case, the Gray government won the 1986 state election and held onto power until 1989. The party was elected at the 1992 state election with

Ray Groom Raymond John Groom (born 3 September 1944) is an Australian lawyer and former sportsman and politician, representing the Liberal Party in the Federal Parliament 1975–84 and the Tasmanian Parliament 1986–2001. He was a Federal and state m ...

as leader, however at the subsequent 1996 election following a promise not to form minority government Groom resigned.

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 ...

was quick to replace Groom as Liberal leader and reached an informal agreement with 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 ...

to secure support. At the 2014 state election,

Will Hodgman William Edward Felix Hodgman (born 20 April 1969) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was the premier of Tasmania from 2014 to 2020 and state leader of the Liberal Party from 2006 to 2020. He later served as High Commissioner of ...

secured a majority of seats following a 16-year incumbent Labor government led by

Lara Giddings Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings (born 14 November 1972) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014, the first woman to hold the position. Born in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, sh ...

. The party was re-elected at the 2018 state election. Hodgman retired from politics in January 2020 and was succeeded by

Peter Gutwein Peter Carl Gutwein () (born 21 December 1964) is a former Australian politician who was the 46th premier of Tasmania from 2020 to 2022. He was a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 2002 to 2022, representing the electora ...

as party leader and Premier. On 22 March 2021, lower house MP Sue Hickey announced that she would quit the Liberal Party and sit as an independent, slamming the state Liberals as "unable to accommodate strong women" after being told by Gutwein that she would not be endorsed for the next election. The Liberal government lost its majority and plunged into minority government. The party was re-elected at the May 2021 state election and regained majority government status. In April 2022, Gutwein retired from politics and was succeeded by his deputy

Jeremy Rockliff Jeremy Page Rockliff Tasmanian House of Assembly, MP (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian politician currently serving as the 47th premier of Tasmania. Rockliff's Premiership of Jeremy Rockliff, premiership began in 2022 following the resign ...

as party leader and Premier.

Organisation

Each division of the Liberal Party is autonomous, with a unique organisational structure and their own constitutions.

Premiers

Seven parliamentary Liberal leaders have served as

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the Government of Tasmania, executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the Tasmanian House of Assem ...

: * Angus Bethune (1969-1972) * Robin Gray (1982-1989) *

(1992-1996) *

(1996-1998) *

(2014-2020) *

(2020-2022) *

(2022-present)

Deputy Premiers

Seven parliamentary Liberal deputy leaders have served as

Deputy Premier of Tasmania The deputy premier of Tasmania is a role in the Government of Tasmania assigned to a Individual ministerial responsibility, responsible Minister in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Tasmania. It has second ranking behi ...

: * Max Bingham (1982-1984) *

Geoff Pearsall Geoffrey Alan "Geoff" Pearsall (born 15 September 1946) is a former Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1969 until 1988 and as Leader of the Opposition (1979–1 ...

(1984-1988) * Ray Groom (1988-1989) * John Beswick (1992-1996) *

Sue Napier Suzanne Deidre Napier (née Braid; 1 January 1948 – 5 August 2010) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Division of Bass (state), Division of Bass. Napier was first elected in 1992 and was ...

(1996-1998) * Jeremy Rockliff (2014-2022) * Michael Ferguson (2022-2024) * Guy Barnett (2024-present)

List of parliamentary leaders

* Neil Campbell (1945–1950) * Rex Townley (1950–1956) * Tim Jackson (1956–1960) * Angus Bethune (1960–1972) * Max Bingham (1972–1979) *

(1979–1981) * Robin Gray (1981–1991) *

(1991–1996) *

(1996–1999) *

(1999–2001) * Bob Cheek (2001–2002) *

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 ...

(2002–2006) *

(2006–2020) *

(2020–2022) *

(2022–present)

Electoral performance

House of Assembly

Federal election results

References

External links

Tasmanian Liberals
Official website
Liberal Party of Australia
Federal party official site
Liberal Party of Australia ephemera
digitised and held by the National Library of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberal Party Of Australia (Tasmanian Division)

Political parties in Tasmania