A historic year in tasmania 

By Dr Rosalie Woodruff, Leader of the Tasmanian Greens 

It’s been an historic and very positive year for the Tasmanian Greens! Our House of Assembly was recently restored back to 35 seats from 25 (a move secured by former Greens’ leader Cassy O’Connor). Combined with the Liberals pulling a snap state election in March, this gave us a generational opportunity to increase Green seats. 

Our volunteers and MPs seized the opportunity and came out in force with organised campaign messaging and a terrific team of candidates. The Green team turned around for a second campaign almost immediately, with a May election for the Legislative Council seat of Hobart.

Thanks to this concerted effort, the Greens tripled our representation from two members to six. We are now the largest ever Green team in Tasmania’s Parliament!

We made further history with two Greens’ MPs – Vica Bayley and Helen Burnet – being elected to the House of Assembly in one electorate (we have a Hare-Clark system), along with Tabatha Badger, Cecily Rosol and myself. And for the first time the Greens finally cracked the Legislative Council with Cassy O’Connor elected as the Member for Hobart. 

We now have real power to negotiate and move bills through both houses. In the new post-election landscape of a Liberal minority/balance of power Parliament, we’ve been working across all parties and independents, and two chambers, to make real change. 

We recently passed a bill through the House that will reduce the threshold for political donation disclosures to $1,000, with monthly reporting required. Tasmania’s donations’ laws have long been the weakest in the country, and this was our fourth attempt at legislating to give voters information about who’s funding candidates at an election. Now with a member in the upper house, we will bring this bill on for final debate there next year. 

At our third attempt we also succeeded in ending the crime of begging — a significant issue for the most vulnerable people in our community who have been criminalised and moved on simply for asking for help. This was a win for the community sector, lawyers, advocates and caring Tasmanians who’d been speaking out with us against this outdated law for years.

We passed a motion that forced the Liberals to release their ten years-overdue State of the Environment Report. This was a devastating report card that shows the impact of a decade of Liberal neglect and active destruction of nature. Having it public means opportunities to campaign for protections.

Success isn’t just measured in the bills or motions we have passed. We have been the loudest and often the only voices fighting for Tasmania’s unique nature, and speaking truth to the powerful influence of big corporates on the policies of Liberal and Labor politicians. 

We spent all year pursuing the Liberals’ secret logging schedule to access new areas of protected high conservation value forests. The government steadfastly refused to release the location of the 39,000 hectares they intend to log and burn, preferring communities to be kept in the dark. But in an end of year coupe, we’ve uncovered the truth and made the information public – and kicked off a marathon campaign with conservation groups to protect these special carbon-rich biodiverse forests.

The Greens have been the voice for communities opposed to industrial salmon farming in public waters. These giant international corporates are pushing species like the Maugean skate and handfish to extinction. Don’t buy Tasmanian salmon folks!

We’ve further cemented our reputation among voters as the party with strong consistent policy positions. Love us or hate us, Tasmanians know that unlike Liberal and Labor politicians, the Greens won’t back down and they can trust us to stay true.

We called out the Liberals’ backflip on their promised nation-leading poker machines reforms. We have continued to push against the Liberals' plans (supported by Labor) to build a billion-dollar stadium – a gift to the AFL – instead of building housing and health infrastructure. We have relentlessly advocated for short-stay regulation and renters’ rights.

We finished a Greens-initiated Parliamentary inquiry into ambulance ramping, which was a first-ever platform for workers and families to publicly talk about the impacts of the crisis in healthcare delivery. This has delivered a blueprint for meaningful improvements the government can make, and we’ll work with unions to pursue these reforms. 

I feel very proud of what the Tasmanian Greens have shown a grassroots movement can achieve.  In 2025, my colleagues and I will focus on finally ending native forest logging, legislating reforms for renters and regulating short-stay, repealing Tasmania’s draconian anti-protest laws, ending the greyhound racing industry, banning LGBTIQ conversion practices, and much stronger climate action. 

We look forward to continuing this work next year with our party’s members and supporters, for our island lutruwita/Tasmania and its people. We also do this work as part of a Green web across the country to protect planet Earth and create a just and caring society for future generations. 

Have a restful, fun and safe summer.