Australian Politics and Elections Archive 1856-2018
The University of Western Australia

State Government of Tasmania beginning 17 February 1992 - period in office of Premier Groom, Raymond John ending on 18 March 1996

Period in office of premier (see Glossary entry for 'period in office' and related terms)

Parliamentary support during period

Number of ministers at beginning of period (this may vary during the period)

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Notes

Loss of general election: Beginning of Groom's period in office: Early in 1992, Premier Field decided to call a general election for the House of Assembly for 1 February 1992. 'In making his announcement, Field was cognizant of the fact that upon the resumption of Parliament, the Green Independents [designated as Tasmanian Greens in this database] would in all probability move a no-confidence motion in his government which would be supported by the Liberal Opposition. Field claimed that Parliament was unworkable and that the government had lost effective control of the House of Assembly in November 1991 when the Opposition, under former leader Robin Gray, succeeded in altering the timetable for the resumption of Parliament from the March date nominated by the government to early February', P D, 'Tasmania', Australian Journal of Politics and History, Australian Political Chronicle, January-June 1992, 38 (3) December 1992: 453-460 at 453-454. The Australian Labor Party lost the election, gaining less than 29 percent of the first preference vote, the lowest vote share for the party since 1906. The Liberal Party won 19 of the 35 seats in the House of Assembly, and Groom, the leader of the Liberals, was commissioned as Premier of a Liberal Party government.

Change of party leader: At the general election for the House of Assembly on 24 February 1996, no party won a majority of seats; the Liberal Party won 16 of 35 seats , the Australian Labor Party 14, the Tasmanian Greens 4, together with one Independent (Bruce Goodluck). 'While [Premier] Groom was clearly disappointed in the election outcome, he showed himself prepared to negotiate with the Greens to form a minority government. He said that while minority government would not be easy, the Liberals had an obligation to try and make it work. Three weeks after the election Groom, however, decided that he did not want that responsibility and announced that he would be standing down as Liberal leader and Premier', Stephen Tanner, 'Tasmania', Australian Journal of Politics and History, Australian Political Chronicle, January-June 1996, 44 (3) August 1996: 451-456 at 453. On Groom's resignation, Rundle was elected by the parliamentary party as leader of the Liberals and was commissioned as Premier of a Liberal Party minority government.

References: For Groom's period in office, note that the Australian Journal of Politics and History has provided brief surveys of Tasmanian politics since 1956 in the 'Political Chronicle' section of the journal in issues of each annual volume. This publication can be viewed online through Wiley-Blackwell Journals at subscribing libraries.

For a brief survey of Groom's career, see Stephen Tanner, 'Groom, Raymond John (b 1944)', in Alison Alexander (editor), The Companion to Tasmanian History, p. 168, (Hobart: Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania, 2005, ISBN 186295223X), online at: http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/

Sources

'Ministries: Names of the Members of Successive Ministries which have held Office in Tasmania since the inauguration of Responsible Government, together with the Dates of Appointment and Retirement', Journal of House of Assembly, Second Session of the Forty-Fifth Parliament of Tasmania, Anno LIII and LV Eliz II; Session 2 of the 45th Parliament, Volume 251, 2004-2006, (Hobart: Government Printer, Tasmania); Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politcs 1985-1999, (Sydney: Federation Press, 2002, ISBN 1862874344), and the website of the Parliament of Tasmania, http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/