Article
Willie, Rattray Returned to Leg Co; Huon Goes Postal
Media release – Tasmanian Electoral Commission, 8 May 2022
Sunday update – Willie and Rattray returned to the Legislative Council
Parliamentary elections were held yesterday, Saturday 7 May, for the Legislative Council divisions of Elwick, Huon and McIntyre.
A further 7,789 returned postal ballots across the three divisions were opened and counted today. Updated first preference figures are on our website. All figures are provisional and will be rechecked in the coming days.
Sunday progressive results
In the following summary, percentages relate to the progressive formal votes counted to date:
Elwick: Josh Willie (53.49%) leads Rick Cazaly (26.57%) and Hannah Bellamy (19.95%). With less than 1,100 votes that can still be included in the count, Josh Willie has an insurmountable lead, and is returned as the Member for Elwick.
Huon: Toby Thorpe (25.23%) leads Dean Harriss (23.93%), Aldo Antolli (22.79%), Gideon Cordover (20.32%), and Pat Caplice (7.72%). With still 1,700 votes that can still be included in the count, and an even spread of votes across 4 candidates, it is unlikely that a result can be known until the end of the postal return period, Tuesday 17 May.
McIntyre: Tania Rattray (58.10%) leads David Downie (27.30%) and Mitchell Houghton (14.60%). With less than 1,600 votes that can still be included in the count, Tania Rattray has an insurmountable lead, and is returned as the Member for McIntyre.
Cassy O’Connor MP, Tasmanian Greens Leader, 8 May 2022
Greens Message Resonating With Voters
The Greens strong result in Legislative Council elections on Saturday is a boost to our federal campaign in Tasmania.
Clearly our messages of strong climate action, restoring integrity and trust in politics, tackling housing affordability, and putting dental and mental health into Medicare are resonating with voters.
There’s been a swing to the Greens across all three divisions, with the strongest in Elwick and we’re still in the race for Huon.
I want to warmly thank and congratulate our terrific candidates, Mitch Houghton in McIntyre, Hannah Bellamy in Elwick, and Gideon Cordover in Huon.
We are out there again today, talking to voters and listening to their concerns, and we’ll be doing this every day until 21 May.
Media release – The Local Party, 8 May 2022
Huon Local Party Legislative Council Candidate Pat Caplice result exceeds expectations.
Independent candidate, Pat Caplice who ran in yesterday’s Huon Legislative Council election under The Local Party umbrella will not take the seat but will help to shape who does, as neither Labor or Liberal managed to get an outright majority of first preference votes.
Pat Caplice ran against the three major Party candidates, Labor, Greens and the Liberals, and one well known Independent whose father previously held the seat.
The Local Party’s Pat Caplice looks to have secured around 8% of the vote.
“Seasoned election watchers were tipping that we would be lucky to get one or maybe two percent of the vote. We are thrilled with Pat’s result, it’s really encouraging,” said Senate Candidate and Local Party co-founder Leanne Minshull.
Pat Caplice was also pleased with the result and quick to congratulate the other candidates:
“Congratulations to the candidates who will progress further in the Huon vote count. Huon is the first ever election the Local Party has stood a candidate and the first time I have ever stood for office, I’m proud that 8%, over 1300 voters, gave me their number 1 vote.
But the most notable result of the Huon election is the failure of the state’s Lib/Labs to achieve even 50% of the vote. The community is turning away from the parties that have turned away from the community,” Said Mr Caplice.
The Local Party is Australia’s newest Party and is a network for Independents, with elected candidates having a conscience vote on every piece of legislation.
Tasmania’s Legislative council election for Huon was run against the backdrop of a federal election making it even harder than usual for new Independents to get attention.
“This has given us a lot of encouragement for how our Independent candidates will poll in the federal election in two weeks.” said Local Party co-founder and Franklin Candidate, Anna Bateman.
Dean Winter MP, Leader of Opposition Business, 9 May 2022
Rockliff-Ferguson Government stumbles at the first hurdle in Huon
The first test for the Rockliff-Ferguson Government at the ballot-box looks to have been a resounding defeat.
The Premier spent much of last week’s Parliament talking up his candidate’s chances in the Huon Legislative Council election, only to perform so badly they are at risk of losing to the Greens.
By comparison, Labor is feeling quietly confident about Toby Thorpe’s chances after he topped the poll on primaries. At the age of just 20, Toby Thorpe is already a former Tasmanian of the year. We are honoured he wants to join our team and we are hopeful he will.
This is a message to the Jeremy Rockliff and Michael Ferguson leadership team: start delivering on the promises you made to the Tasmanian people.
The community recognise the chaos that is characterising this government and Tasmanians want better than division and instability.
Successive Liberal Governments have failed to deliver promised services and infrastructure across the Huon and Channel regions and that failure is hurting these communities.
People want to see change.