House
of Assembly Chamber
From
1856 to 1940, the House of Assembly used as its Chamber the
room which is now the Members Lounge.
During the late 1930s renovations and extensions were carried
out which provided for a new Chamber as well as more office
accommodation and improvements to other facilities
The
House of Assembly Members Lounge, which was used as
the House of Assembly Chamber from 1856 to 1940.
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The
present Chamber was opened on 14 May 1940 by the Honourable
Robert Cosgrove, MP., Premier. It was remodelled in the
1970s mainly to provide for better acoustics due to the impending
introduction of Hansard. The Chamber has Tasmanian blackwood
panelling and benches. The Speaker's chair, also made of
blackwood, was originally used in the old Legislative Council
and is over 150 years old.
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House of Assembly
In
the House of Assembly the political grouping which has
a majority of the Members,
i.e. thirteen or more, forms the Government but on several
occasions in Tasmania's recent history there has been a Government
which has not had a majority and has formed a formal or casual
coalition with Members of another party or independents to
form a Government.
The government
leader is the Premier and the size of the Ministry varies
but can be no more than ten. The largest
minority party in the House is known as the Opposition and
is the 'alternative government'.
The initiative
for government action resides with the House of Assembly.
Nearly all legislation is introduced to the
Parliament in the House. Appropriation, land tax and income
tax Bills must originate in the House of Assembly.
It is
in the House of Assembly that Governments are made, where
their policies first take legislative shape,
and where a Government comes face to face with the Opposition
which will attempt to show itself to be a better choice for
government by pointing out deficiencies, as it sees them,
in government policies and suggesting alternative policies
to those put forward by a Government. The Government has
the opportunity in the House to explain its policies fully
and the action it intends to take to implement them.
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Relations with
the Legislative Council
The two
Houses of the Tasmanian Parliament have almost equal powers.
Appropriation and taxation legislation must be introduced
in the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council may
either accept or reject, but not amend it. It is a convention
that the initiation of legislation resides in the House of
Assembly leaving the Legislative Council to act as a House
of review.
Since
1856 there have been a number of occasions when disputes
have arisen between the Houses. The method used for dealing
with these disputes is usually very effective. When a dispute
arises, normally over a Bill, each House would appoint four
of its members to be managers on its part and attend a
conference,
the aim of which is to 'confer freely with one another ...
and endeavour to reconcile all differences or effect a compromise
between the Houses . . . so that if possible an agreement
between the Houses may be brought about'. (Standing Order
No. 416.)
The
basement of Parliament House where the
Parliamentary Museum is located.
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In November 1996 the Standing Orders of the House were amended
to remove the provision for a Free Conference (or managers'
conference). The provision remains in the Legislative Council's
Standing Orders.
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