War of independence brews in Legislative Council, functioning of house continues to face scrutiny

Although he's been out of politics since 2011, Don Wing, an MLC for 29 years and president of the house for six, continues to value the independence of the state's upper house.

The Legislative Council has always predominantly consisted of independent members, which Mr Wing says has been integral to its role as a house of review, in which government bills are scrutinised, amended and, on occasion, turfed out.

In recent years, the functioning of the upper house has been the subject of considerable debate, with current and former members of both houses of parliament, as well as the political commentariat, arguing over its continuing relevance.

Six of the chamber's 15 seats are now occupied by members of the two major parties (four Labor MLCs and two Liberal MLCs), which has sparked contention regarding the place's capacity to properly serve its role.

With counting for the 2019 Legislative Council elections getting underway on Saturday night, it wasn't long before incumbents, Montgomery Liberal MLC Leonie Hiscutt and Pembroke Labor MLC Jo Siejka, were returned.

The result for Nelson, an electorate with 10 candidates vying for it and no clear favourite among them, could not be finalised. Liberal candidate Nic Street leads the count but it's expected the final outcome will be determined by preferences.

Mr Wing, who has also been the mayor of Launceston, said the party members currently in the Legislative Council had "handled legislation well".

But he also stated that the level of party representation was "approaching dangerous levels when you look at the future of the Legislative Council as a house of review".

"If one party controlled the Legislative Council then it would be not a house of review but either a house of obstruction or a rubber stamp," Mr Wing said. "It is neither at the moment."

"But if there are any more party members elected, there would be a danger of it ultimately becoming irrelevant and that would be bad for Tasmania."

Political expert Richard Herr said the smaller electorates the upper house was comprised of meant that "notables and local dignitaries", such as past and present mayors, stood a good chance of winning a seat.

"If you're a mayor or a prominent personality, it's a smaller pond," Professor Herr said.

He also pointed to the spending caps employed in Legislative Council elections as a reason for independent candidates with fewer resources being able to mount strong campaigns and often get elected over party candidates.

"The other factor, of course, is that the chamber doesn't go to the polls all at once," Professor Herr said. "I think that's very important because what it means is that for political parties, if the whole chamber went [to an election] in one go, parties would be able to pool their resources and probably contest more effectively for seats."

One of the chamber's most prominent independent members, Murchison MLC Ruth Forrest, said that, for her, being independent "was always about [not] having to toe a line that I just didn't agree with".

And yet she said the idea of joining a party and becoming a government minister - a possibility that's closed off to independent MLCs in Tasmania - was "slightly tempting on a very superficial level".

"There's a part of me that would really love to be able to really directly impact policy and directly be involved in implementing policy," Ms Forrest said. "If I was approached to take on a ministry, as long as it was one I believed I could make a difference in, I would consider that."

Ms Forrest did concede, however, that it was "the other obligations that go with party membership that could be difficult for me".

She said our state governments should consider appointing independent members of the upper house to ministries.

"We've got people in the parliament with capacity that may not be aligned to [a particular] party," she said. "Why would you just ignore that capacity?"

Independent Windermere MLC Ivan Dean, conservatively minded, is ideologically opposed to Ms Forrest but shares her values around independence in the upper house.

He even went so far as to say that he would support a mandated limit on the number of party members allowed there.

"I'm not quite sure that would happen ... but if that was the case, I'd certainly support it," Mr Dean said.

Where Ms Forrest is optimistic about the direction the Legislative Council is heading in, Mr Dean is more of a doomsayer.

"There's nothing wrong with having Liberal members there, there's nothing wrong with having Labor members there, there's nothing wrong with having Green members there," he said. "But when you look at the whole thing, it has got to be independently controlled, in my view."

"And if it's not, then it's lost its way. And that's becoming clear with the direction it's now taking."

Mr Dean said the Labor members in the upper house were obstructing government legislation, and were being supported by left-leaning independents like Ms Forrest.

He cited the recent gender reforms that passed the Legislative Council as an example of the government being "stonewalled". Mr Dean was the most vocal independent in the chamber to oppose the reforms, which were spearheaded by Labor and the Greens and primarily sought to make it easier for Tasmanians to change their gender on birth certificates. The reforms ultimately passed the upper house.

"I said a number of times while I was speaking, 'It doesn't matter what I say, it makes no difference at all'," Mr Dean said.

"I left that place at that time thinking ... 'Should I stay in this place?'

"My faith in the Legislative Council has been shaken by what's happened."

Rumney Labor MLC Sarah Lovell denied assertions that a "Labor bloc" was causing mischief in the upper house by working to torpedo government legislation for the sake of it.

"If you're going to argue that the government has a mandate to introduce whatever they want, then there is no point in having a Legislative Council," she said. "Each MLC could argue that they have their own mandate."

Ms Lovell said she believed it was good to have a mix of party members and independents in the upper house.

"The best outcome is that we have a mix of those perspectives," she said.

Paul Harriss was the independent member for Huon for 18 years. But, in 2014, he decided to seek a move to the lower house, joining the rarefied ranks of independent members who have made the jump to a party.

Mr Harriss had been a member of the Liberal Party prior to being elected in 1996 and even remained a member for his first couple of years as an independent MLC.

He became disillusioned with the political state of play during the years of the Bartlett-Giddings Labor government, prompting him to seek out then Opposition Leader Will Hodgman, a friend of his.

Mr Harriss later became Resources Minister in Mr Hodgman's first cabinet as premier. He retired from politics two years into his term.

"I'd been an independent for 18 years, I'd had the freedom to do what I thought was the right thing with regard to legislation and Tasmania's direction," he said.

"But in terms of contributing to the direction your state takes ... it's just fundamental that nothing replaces having the privilege of being a minister with the capacity to contribute in cabinet and help chart the direction of your state."

Despite having had experience both as an independent in the upper house and as a frontbencher in a Liberal government, Mr Harriss maintains that the Legislative Council's independence should be preserved.

"Given the nature of upper houses, if they're going to work properly, then you've really got to assess matters devoid of a party telling you what their position is on the issue," he said.