Anthony Maxwell Rundle AO (born 5 March 1939 in

Scottsdale, Tasmania Scottsdale, formerly known as Ellesmere, is a town in the north-east of Tasmania, Australia. It lies on the Tasman Highway, around north-east of Launceston and south-east of the coastal town of Bridport. It is part of the Dorset Council. H ...

) was the

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 ...

of the Australian

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

from 18 March 1996 to 14 September 1998. He succeeded

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 ...

and was succeeded himself by Jim Bacon. He is a Liberal who held the seat of Braddon between 1986 and 2002. A former journalist, he is married to Caroline Watt. He has twin daughters from his first marriage. Rundle was first elected as member for Braddon in 1986 and reelected in the

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and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

elections. He served as Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1988 to 1989. During the 1996 election, Liberal Premier

promised he would only govern if the Liberals kept their majority. At that election, the Liberals suffered a three-seat swing and lost their majority. The Labor Party refused to enter into any agreement with the Greens, leaving a Liberal minority government backed by the Greens as the only realistic option. Groom resigned rather than break his pre-election pledge, and Rundle was elected Liberal leader. He quickly reached an agreement with the Greens, allowing him to become Premier.

Government

During Rundle's minority government;

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refer ...

rose and the state economy struggled. 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 ...

party exploited this in hopes of discrediting the Liberals' economic credibility. However, others simply blamed the bad economic conditions on lack of investment in the state for fear of minority government. In his government, Rundle granted the Greens offices, staff and more parliamentary resources. He came under pressure from lobby groups to reduce the size of parliament, mostly for cost-cutting purposes. There were numerous proposals including having three multi-member seats in 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 Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 ...

electing nine members each. Others proposed abolishing the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two chambers of the Parliament, the other being the House of Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in the state capital, ...

and merging some of its electorates into the House of Assembly. The Labor Party proposed a 40-member parliament with 25 members in the House of Assembly and 15 members in the Legislative Council. The Labor Party proposal was backed by many business groups and the Legislative Council as it would reduce the chance of a minority government. Rundle, however, refused to support Labor's proposal, as it was likely to lead to his downfall. One Liberal member,

Bob Cheek Robert Reginald Cheek (born 13 May 1944 in Launceston, Tasmania) was leader of the Opposition Tasmanian Liberal Party from 20 August 2001 until he lost his seat in the July 2002 election. It was the first time that a major party leader was unsu ...

, crossed the floor to support Labor's proposal; he was later forced to resign from his position as secretary for small business. The Rundle government was unable to get support from the Legislative Council for its alternatives and wasn't able to abandon the issue, so Rundle later decided to support Labor's bill. In a speech, Rundle stated, "While this new model isn't perfect, at least a party with 10% of the vote will no longer control the state" . The reduction in the size of parliament increased the required quota for election from 12.5% to 16.7% and made it more difficult for Green members to be elected. Rundle called an election immediately after declaring support for the move, knowing that the Greens would launch a no-confidence vote against him. Tasmanian Greens leader Christine Milne claimed Rundle had 'betrayed her trust to deliberately remove a group of Tasmanians from politics for the Liberals' own gain' . After the size of parliament was reduced, Rundle lost the following 1998 state election and became the opposition leader. He held this position until July 1999 and retired just before the 2002 state election. The Rundle government is credited for its numerous reforms; reforming gun laws, gay law reform, the Bass link initiative, signing the Regional Forests Agreement, a small move towards more conservation in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, and the handling of the

Port Arthur massacre Port Arthur massacre may refer to: *Port Arthur massacre (China), an 1894 event in which Japanese troops killed several thousand Chinese in the Liaodong Peninsula *Port Arthur massacre (Australia) The Port Arthur massacre was a mass shooting t ...

External links

* * *
Proportional Representation Society of Australia - Parliamentary reform process

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rundle, Tony Premiers of Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Officers of the Order of Australia 1939 births Living people People educated at Launceston Church Grammar School Speakers of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Leaders of the Opposition in Tasmania Treasurers of Tasmania 21st-century Australian politicians