Tasmanian Parliament

Parliament consists of three parts: the Crown, the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly. These three acting together make State laws for Tasmania. It is the task of Parliament to provide a forum for the peoples elected representatives to debate the important issues of the day and make laws accordingly. Tasmania is the second oldest Australian settlement, having been established at Risdon Cove on the River Derwent by Lieutenant John Bowen in September 1803. Shortly after Hobarts settlement, Colonel William Patterson established a settlement on the Tamar River in the north of the island at the site which subsequently became Launceston. Until 1812 the colony was divided into two counties and administered separately from Sydney. In that year Colonel Thomas Davey was appointed the first Lieutenant Governor of the whole colony. Van Diemens Land, as it was then known, became a colony under its own administration on 3 December 1825. The colony was administered by the Lieut...