Background
The Parliamentary History Projectis a combined initiative of the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the President of the Legislative Council. The aim of the project is to prepare a definitive book on the history of the Tasmanian Parliament from its foundation in 1825 to the present. The bicameral  or two house Parliament was convened for the first time on 2nd December 1856. The target date for the release of the book is December 2006, which will therefore mark the first 150 years or sesquicentenary of the first session of the two chambers.

Publications
The aim of the Parliamentary History Project is to research the myriad of  topics that are of relevance to the  Tasmanian Parliament and its various roles including the formation of governments since the granting of self-government in 1856. As a product of this research two publications are to appear. The first more general historical publication was publsihed in October 2005 and the second and  major parliamentary publication is scheduled to appear in 2006.

Minor Publication: 2005
Becoming Tasmania: Renaming Van Diemen's Land  presents information regarding the identification of VDL as an island and the evolution of the VDL society from a convict colony. The name change was intertwined with the drive to end convict transportation and changes in parliamentary and constitutional practice in VDL.

Major Publication: 2006
This book despite some overlap between the two publications is not simply a  second volume.
It is in fact the principal part of this project and stands alone.
To be launced in December 2006 it is to be entitled:

As the main focus of the history project it will  present  information regarding the early parliamentary and constitutional pattern of VDL up to the granting of self-government in 1856.

From this background the book will proceed to examine the whole gamut of issues that are considered
relevant during the first 150 years of the Tasmanian Parliament.

This book is aimed at filling a major gap in that it will provide both a valuable work of reference and a work of general interest to the Tasmanian people and other readers about the second oldest Parliament in Australia. It will contain material that provides more than just a dry, musty story of parliamentary practices. Towards this end  a webpage has been established to provide an on-line link between the Parliament and the people.