The 1956 Tasmanian state election was held on 13 October 1956 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.
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All 30 seats to the House of Assembly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results of the election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background edit
The 1955 election had resulted in a parliamentary deadlock between the Labor and Liberal parties, although Robert Cosgrove remained Premier of Tasmania. On 11 September 1956, Cosgrove's minister for housing, Carrol Bramich, resigned from the ALP following an internal row, party switching and giving the Liberal opposition a majority.[2] Cosgrove obtained a dissolution of parliament from the Governor of Tasmania, and an election was called for 13 October.[3]
The electorate of Darwin had been renamed in 1955 to Braddon, after former Premier Sir Edward Braddon.
Results edit
Following the 1956 election, the ALP and Liberals remained in a 15-seat deadlock. Despite Bramich's defection to the Liberals, Labor picked up a seat in Bramich's electorate of Braddon, maintaining the status quo with Cosgrove and the ALP still in power.
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| Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |
| Labor | 80,096 | 50.27 |  2.36 | 15 |  | |
| Liberal | 69,477 | 43.61 | 1.74 | 15 | | |
| Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) | 5,522 | 3.47 | New | 0 | New | |
| Independents | 4,139 | 2.60 |  0.58 | 0 | | |
| Communist | 91 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0 | | |
| Total | 159,325 | 100.00 | – | 30 | – | |
| Valid votes | 159,325 | 95.81 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 6,968 | 4.19 | 0.40 | |||
| Total votes | 166,293 | 100.00 | – | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 174,632 | 95.22 | 1.30 | |||
Distribution of votes edit
Primary vote by division edit
| Bass | Braddon | Denison | Franklin | Wilmot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor Party | 51.5% | 48.5% | 48.7% | 49.0% | 53.7% |
| Liberal Party | 44.5% | 46.9% | 41.4% | 42.9% | 42.5% |
| Other | 4.0% | 4.6% | 9.9% | 8.1% | 3.8% |
Distribution of seats edit
Aftermath edit
The subsequent election in 1959 saw the number of seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly increased to 35, which would prevent the kind of deadlock which resulted from having an even number of seats in the house.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
- ^ Tasmanian Political Alamanc - On This Day, Parliament of Tasmania.
- ^ W. A. Townsley, Cosgrove, Sir Robert (1884 - 1969), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 505-507.
External links edit
- Assembly Election Results, 1956, Parliament of Tasmania.
- Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1956, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.