Open Access"Bound to be responsible": the Tasmanian Greens' and the 1996-1998 Liberal minority government
Author(s) -
Arabella Comyn
Publication year - 2020
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.47967/gvgv8121
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , politics , liberal party , optimal distinctiveness theory , context (archaeology) , dilemma , parliament , political science , coalition government , state (computer science) , public administration , law , social psychology , psychology , history , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , epistemology , algorithm , computer science
This paper presents a case study of minority government in the Australian state of Tasmania in 1996-1998. The minority government was led by the conservative Liberal Party of Australia and supported, without a formal agreement or formal arrangements, by the newly formed Tasmanian Green Party. This type of minority government is not very common in Australia and was adopted as a result of the specific context within which the government was formed. Two of the Green members elected to the Tasmanian parliament participated in extensive interviews which provide the primary basis for this case study. The case study will show how the negativity ascribed to the Tasmanian Greens and minority government prevented the possibility of a written agreement for minority government. It will also outline how the unity-distinctiveness dilemma was experienced by the Tasmanian Greens and how it played a role in the government’s early end. The case shows that the Tasmanian Greens displayed a high commitment to stability and cooperative politics, but that this was not enough to prevent the governing Liberal Party from calling an early election and breaking a promise. The participating ex-Greens did however find the experience to be ‘worth it’.