POSITION UNCHANGED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27384, 9 May 1950, Page 7

POSITION UNCHANGED

Dead Heat In Tasmanian Elections

Rec. 7 p.m. HOBART, May 8. Tasmania is expected to have soon its fourth State election in four years. Progress counts in last Saturday's election have confirmed the early predictions that the result would be a dead heat between Labour and Liberal with 15 seats each. The Government will probably meet in Parliament next month. There is no chance of a coalition and as it is unlikely that any Independents will be re-elected, the Government will have to provide a Speaker from its own ranks, thus placing it in a minority of one

It is expected that legislation will be Introduced to provide for seven members in each of the State’s five electorates instead of six members as at present. The Tasmanian elections are conducted on the Hare-Clark system in which the electorates return six members each on a proportional vote. This is similar to the system adopted in 1948 for the election of the Federal Senate and the deadlock is similar to that foreshadowed in the event of a Senate election after a double dissolution. The suggested change, which envisages making the number of members in each electorate an odd number, is similar ■to the Federal Prime Minister, Mr Menzies’s, solution of the Senate deadlock.