Sen. Claire Chandler (Lib-Tas) – Maiden Speech

Jul 23, 2019

This is the maiden speech by Senator Claire Chandler (Liberal-Tasmania).

Listen to Chandler (24m):

Watch Chandler (26m):

Hansard transcript of maiden speech by Senator Claire Chandler (Liberal-Tasmania).

The PRESIDENT (17:28): I will now call Senator Chandler to make her first speech, and again remind honourable senators that the usual courtesies be extended to her.

Senator CHANDLER (Tasmania) (17:28): First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Mr President, on your re-election to your position in the 46th Parliament. The chair in which you now sit it is one that has a proud history and, particularly, a recent history of being occupied by fellow Tasmanians. While you don’t quite fit that moniker, given that you hail from the great and neighbouring state of Victoria I suppose I can accept that’s the next best thing! [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2019 Federal Election, Audio, Liberal Party, Maiden Speeches, Senate, TAS, Video Tagged With: ,

No, William McWilliams Wasn’t The Last Country Party Member From Tasmania

May 29, 2018

The man shown here is Llewellyn Atkinson. He was the Country Party member for Wilmot (Tas) from 1921 until 1928.

He’s been dead since 1945 and now not even Nationals leader Michael McCormack knows that he was the last Country Party member from Tasmania.

Atkinson
Llewellyn Atkinson; Photo credit: Psephos

Yesterday, Tasmanian Senator Steve Martin joined The Nationals. Elected in a recount of Jacqui Lambie Network votes a few months back, Martin briefly sat as an independent before signing up to the former Country Party.

Martin was welcomed into the party room yesterday as the first-ever Country Party/Nationals senator from Tasmania.

According to an ABC report, McCormack told the media: “The last National Party member in parliament (from Tasmania) was William McWilliams, a former Country Party leader all the way back in 1927.”

Umm, no. McWilliams left the Country Party in 1922 and only returned to Parliament in 1928 as an independent.

The misinformation was dutifully repeated by Guardian Australia and The Australian.

The Land also repeated the fake history and then made it worse by suggesting that McWilliams had been the Country Party’s “inaugural leader in 1903”, at least fifteen years before the party was formed.

In a variation on the theme, The Conversation told us there had been no Country Party representation in Tasmania “since the early 1920s, when William McWilliams was briefly leader of the Country Party”.

Again, no. There were two lower house Country Party members – in Braddon and Wilmot – between 1921 and 1928. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Political History, TAS, The Nationals Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sen. Steve Martin (Ind-Tas) – Maiden Speech

Mar 21, 2018

Senator Steve Martin has delivered his maiden speech to the Senate.

Martin replaced Jacqui Lambie, following her resignation due to dual citizenship. After Lambie was subsequently ruled ineligible to have nominated by the High Court, a special recount saw Martin declared elected on February 9, 2018. By this time, Martin had refused to give up the seat for Lambie, who disendorsed him. Martin has chosen to sit as an independent.

Martin, 57, is a former newsagent and restaurateur. He was elected to the Devonport City Council in 2009. He became Mayor in 2011 and was re-elected in 2014. The High Court ruled that his position on the council did not constitute an office of profit under the Crown and he was therefore eligible under Section 44 of the Constitution.

  • Listen to Martin’s speech (31m)
  • Watch Martin’s speech (34m)

Hansard transcript of maiden speech by Senator Steve Martin.

Senator MARTIN (Tasmania) (17:01): Thank you, Mr President. Senators, ladies and gentlemen, I acknowledge the Ngunawal people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to their elders both past and present. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Audio, Independents, Maiden Speeches, Senate, TAS, Video Tagged With: , ,

Final Two-Party Figures: Coalition Won 2016 Election With 50.36%; Swing To Labor Of 3.13%

Sep 15, 2016

Final figures published by the Australian Electoral Commission show that the Coalition won the 2016 federal election with 50.36% of the two-party-preferred vote.

The Liberal-Nationals coalition polled 50.36% of the national two-party-preferred vote. The ALP received 49.64%. There was a 3.13% swing to the ALP nationally, a near reversal of the 3.61% swing to the Coalition in the 2013 election.

Every state and territory recorded a swing against the Coalition. The largest swing was 7.41% in the Northern Territory. The smallest was 1.22% in the Australian Capital Territory. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2016 Federal Election, A.C.T., A.L.P., Election Statistics, Greens, House of Reps, Liberal National Party, Liberal Party, N.S.W., N.T., Qld, S.A., TAS, The Nationals, Turnbull, Two-Party-Preferred, VIC, W.A.
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