Franklin – Tasmania 2021

Incumbent MPs

• David O’Byrne (Labor), since 2018. Previously 2010-2014.
• Jacquie Petrusma (Liberal), since 2010.
• Alison Standen (Labor), since 2018.
• Nic Street (Liberal)*, since 2020. Previously 2016-2018.
• Rosalie Woodruff (Greens), since 2015.

*Street filled a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Will Hodgman on 6 February 2020.

Geography
Franklin covers the southern parts of Tasmania and the eastern suburbs of Hobart. The seat is divided into two parts, with each covering half of the voters in the electorate. Half live on the eastern shore of the Derwent River in Clarence and Brighton LGAs, while the other half lives to the south and west of Hobart in Kingborough and Huon Valley LGAs.

Redistribution
Franklin lost an area on its north-eastern edge, including Richmond and Old Beach, to Lyons.

History
Franklin was first created as a state electorate in 1909, when Tasmania moved to a system of proportional representation with each district electing six members. Franklin has always had the same boundaries as the federal electorate of the same name.

Six-member electorates tended to result in 3-3 splits between the major parties, even when one party received substantially more votes than the other party, producing many hung parliaments and slim majorities.

The ALP didn’t manage to win a majority of Franklin’s seats for almost thirty years. The Anti-Socialist Party won a 4-2 majority in 1909, and then the ALP and the Liberal/Nationalist party each won 3 seats at the 1912, 1913, 1916 and 1919.

The Country Party contested the Tasmanian election in 1922, the only time the party won seats in the House of Assembly. They won five seats, including one in Franklin, which they took from the ALP, while the Nationalists held their three seats and the ALP two.

The Lyons Labor government won a majority in the 1925 election, including three seats in Franklin, while the Liberals were reduced to one seat, alongside two independents.

The 1928 election saw the Nationalists win three seats in every district, and the ALP won three seats in all other districts. The only exception was Franklin, where the ALP lost their third seat to an independent, producing a 15-14-1 breakdown in the House of Assembly.

The 1931 election saw Franklin’s numbers maintained, while the Nationalists won a fourth seat at the expense of the ALP in every other district.

The 3-2-1 split was reversed in 1934, with the ALP winning back a third seat off the Nationalists. The ALP finally won a 4-2 majority in Franklin in 1937, and again in 1941, although the fourth ALP seat was lost to an independent at the 1946 and 1948 elections.

Franklin elected three Liberals and three Labor MPs at the 1950, 1955 and 1956 elections, which led to the number of seats per district increased to seven in 1959, allowing for more decisive results.

The Liberal Party won a fourth seat at the 1959 election, with the ALP maintaining their three seats. The ALP won a 4-3 majority at the 1964, 1969, 1972, 1976 and 1979 elections.

At the 1982 election, the ALP and the Liberal Party each won three seats. The seventh seat was held by former Labor premier Doug Lowe, who had moved to the crossbenches upon his removal as Premier in 1981.

The 1986 election saw the ALP lose their third seat for the first time since 1931. The Liberal Party won four seats and the ALP two. The seventh seat was won by Green independent Gerry Bates, who joined Bob Brown in Denison.

The 1989 election saw the ALP win back its third seat off the Liberal Party and Bates re-elected, producing a 3-3-1 split, which was maintained in 1992. In 1996 the ALP and the Greens maintained their seats, but the Liberal Party lost their third seat to Bruce Goodluck, a former Liberal federal MP for Franklin from 1975 to 1993. Goodluck won a seat in the state parliament as an independent.

The size of the House of Assembly was cut to twenty-five, and two of Franklin’s seats were abolished. Greens MP Mike Foley lost his seat and independent Bruce Goodluck retired, while the major parties retained their seats; three for the ALP and two for the Liberal Party.

At the 2002 election, the Liberal Party lost one of their two seats to the Greens, with Franklin electing three Labor MPs along with new MPs Will Hodgman (LIB) and Nick McKim (GRN), both of whom went on to lead their parties.

At the 2006 election, the numbers were maintained at 3-1-1. Nick McKim was reelected comfortably with just short of a quota, while Hodgman and then-Premier Paul Lennon each won quotas in their own right. Lara Giddings (ALP) was also re-elected, and Paula Wreidt squeezed in to the last seat, beating Liberal candidate Vanessa Goodwin by about 1000 votes.

At the 2010 election, the ALP lost its third seat to the Liberal Party. Three MPs (Giddings, Hodgman and McKim) were re-elected. The other two seats were held by Labor MPs who had filled casual vacancies in the previous term and had never won election in their own right. Both Ross Butler and Daniel Hulme lost their seats, to the ALP’s David O’Byrne and the Liberal Party’s Jacquie Petrusma.

The Liberal Party gained a third seat from Labor in 2014, with David O’Byrne losing to Paul Harriss.

The third Liberal seat was lost in 2018, with Labor regaining their second seat and the Greens holding their one seat.

Candidates

• Shooters, Fishers, Farmers
  • Shane Broadby
  • Rebecca Byfield
  • Robert Cairns
• Greens
  • Gideon Cordover
  • Kit Darko
  • Phoenix Harrison
  • Bridget Verrier
  • Rosalie Woodruff*
• Labor
  • Amy Brumby
  • Fabiano Cangelosi
  • David O’Byrne*
  • Alison Standen*
  • Toby Thorpe
  • Dean Winter
• Animal Justice
  • Mark Tanner
• Liberal
  • Bec Enders
  • Jacquie Petrusma*
  • Nic Street*
  • James Walker
  • Dean Young
• Ungrouped
  • Francis Flannery
  • George Spiliopoulos

Assessment
This is one of the better regions in Tasmania for Labor and the Greens. A landslide victory for the government could see them win a third seat here, but it’s unlikely to be the seat that decides the majority.

2018 result

Booth breakdown

Booths have been divided into three areas, along local government boundaries: Clarence, to the east of Hobart; Kingborough to the south of Hobart; and Huon Valley in the south-west. While Huon Valley covers a large area stretching to the south-western corner of Tasmania, all of the polling places lay at the eastern edge of the council area.

The Liberal primary vote ranged from 46.9% in Clarence to 49.2% in Huon Valley. Labor’s primary vote ranged from 26.7% in Huon Valley to 39.5% in Clarence. The Greens did best in the Huon Valley, with 20.5%. They did much worse in the urban parts of eastern Hobart in Clarence, with 11%.

Election results in Franklin at the 2018 Tasmanian election
Toggle between primary votes for the Liberal Party, Labor Party and the Greens.

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