TASMANIAN ELECTION

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32018, 19 June 1969, Page 21

TASMANIAN ELECTION

Liberals In Power i Tasmania, which has had a 1 Labour Government for 35 ■ years, now has a Liberal- ' Coalition Party in power. ’ The State elections last month produced a stalemate —Labour 17, Liberal 17, and ’ Centre Party 1. The leader of ■ the Centre Party, Mr K. 1 Lyons, was reported in the ■ cable news as going to take ■;a week in which to make 'i up his mind which party i he would support. ■! There had been no report ■ of his decision, but Mr R. G. > Piggott, the Tasmanian State i president of the Returned - Services’ League, who visited • Christchurch on his way to . the Dominion conference o! ■ the New Zealand Returned S e r v i c e s’ Association brought the news up to date. ' Mr Lyons supported the ! Liberal Party and is now . Deputy-State Premier, Assist- : ant-Treasurer and Minister of ' Tourism in an otherwise ' Liberal Party Cabinet. His colleagues of the! Centre Party lost their de j posits. Tasmania’s complicated electoral system means that once a Government is elected it stays in office for five years. There are no byelections caused by deaths or resignations. The candidate next on the list goes into Parliament automatically. Parliament consists of 35 members, seven being elected from each of five electoral districts.