TASMANIAN ELECTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 25958, 25 November 1946, Page 7

TASMANIAN ELECTIONS

LABOUR RETURNED TO POWER TWO MINISTERS DEFEATED (Rec. ’12.30 p.m.) HOBART, Nov. 25. Party representations in the new House of Assembly will remain obscure until the preferences are distributed towards the end of the week, but it is clear that the. Labour Party has been returned to govern Tasmania for another five years. Two Ministers have almost certainly been defeated, and a third is in danger. Labour has lost at least two seats and possibly four. The Minister for Forests, Colonel Taylor (Wilmot), and the Minister for Mines, Mr Lane (Darwin), appear to have been defeated, and the fate of the Chief Secretary, Mr Culley (Denison), is in doubt. The highlight of the poll was the easy success of the Independent in the Denison electorate, Mr R. C. Towney, who recently resigned from the Labour Party. He has polled more than twice as many votes as the Premier, Mr Cosgrove, who is returned in the same electorate. Another feature of the election is the vote.in favour of ,Mr W.-A. Neilson (Labour) in Franklin. He only recently reached the voting age of 21 years, but is second to the Deputy Premier, .Mr Brooker, in the La pour group of votes', and seems assured of election:

The elections were held under the HAre-Clark system of proportional representation. Under this system the five electoral districts of Tasmania each return six members. The parties in each electorate submit. groups of candidates. as in the Federal Senate election. The Assembly’s term is five years. There will be at least 10 new members in the House.