Tony Rundle

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Anthony Maxwell 'Tony' Rundle (born March 5, 1939, Scottsdale) was the Premier of the Australian State of Tasmania from March 18, 1996 to September 14, 1998. He succeeded Ray Groom and was succeeded himself by Jim Bacon. He is a Liberal who held the seat of Braddon between 1986 and 2002. A former journalist, he is married to Caroline Watt and they have two daughters.

Rundle was first elected as member for Braddon in 1986 he held the seat during the 1989, 1992 and 1996 elections. During the 1996 election, Liberal Premier Ray Groom promised he would only govern in majority. After that election Groom lost his majority and the Labor Party refused a to enter into any agreement with the Greens, so the Liberals were forced into a minority government. Because of this Groom resigned and Rundle became his replacement.

[edit] Government

During Rundle's minority government; unemployment rose and the state economy struggled. The Labor party exploited this in hopes of discrediting the Liberals' economic credibility. However, others simply blamed the bad economic conditions on lack of investment in the state for fear of minority government. In his government Rundle granted the Greens offices, staff and more parliamentary resources.

He came under pressure from lobby groups to reduce the size of parliament, mostly for cost cutting purposes. There were numerous proposals including having three multi-member seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly electing nine members each [1]. Others proposed abolishing the Tasmanian Legislative Council and merging some of its electorates into the House of Assembly. The Australian Labor Party proposed a 40 member parliament with 25 members in the House of Assembly and 15 members in the Legislative Council. The Labor Party proposal was backed by many business groups and the Legislative Council as it would reduce the chance of a minority government. Rundle however refused to support Labors proposal, as it was likely to lead to his downfall. One Liberal member, Bob Cheek crossed the floor to support Labors proposal, he was later forced to resign from his position as secretary for small business. The Rundle government was unable to get support from the Legislative Council for its alternatives and wasn't able to abandon the issue, so they later decided to support Labors bill. In a speech Rundle stated "While this new model isn't perfect, at least a party with 10% of the vote will no longer control the state" ^[2]. The reduction in the size of parliament increased the required quota for election from 12.5% to 16.7% and made it more difficult for Green members to be elected. Rundle called an election immediately after declaring support knowing that the Greens would pass a no confidence vote against him. Tasmanian Greens leader Christine Milne claimed Rundle had 'betrayed her trust to deliberately remove a group of Tasmanians from politics for the Liberals own gain' ^[3].

After the size of parliament was reduced, Rundle lost the following 1998 state election and became opposition leader. He held this position until July, 1999 and retired just before the 2002 state election.

The Rundle government is credited for its numerous reforms; including legalising homosexual acts in private, reforming gun laws, the Bass link initiative, signing the Regional Forests Agreement a small move towards more conservation in Tasmania and the handling of the Port Arthur Massacre.

[edit] External links

• Tony Rundle's maiden speech to parliament
• ^ ^  Proportional Representation Society of Australia - Parliamentary reform process.

Preceded by Ray Groom	Premier of Tasmania 1996–1998	Succeeded by Jim Bacon
Preceded by Jim Bacon	Opposition Leader of Tasmania 1998-1999	Succeeded by Sue Napier

Premiers of Tasmania
Champ | Gregson | Weston | Smith | Chapman | Whyte | Dry | Wilson | Innes | Kennerley | Reibey | Fysh | Giblin | Crowther | Douglas | Agnew | Dobson | Braddon | E. Lewis | Propsting | Evans | Earle | Solomon | Lee | Hayes | Lyons | McPhee | Ogilvie | Dwyer-Gray | Cosgrove | Brooker | Reece | Bethune | Neilson | Lowe | Holgate | Gray | Field | Groom | Rundle | Bacon | Lennon