Australia will have a new government and a new prime minister after the Coalition suffered massive seat losses on the mainland, but Tasmania has well and truly bucked the trend.
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Liberals Bridget Archer and Gavin Pearce have held Bass and Braddon, increasing their margins in both seats, while Labor's Brian Mitchell is in a fight to hold onto Lyons after Liberal Susie Bower saw a strong swing in her favour.
But they would all be in opposition.
Labor, the Greens and the teal independents tore into the Liberals in the mainland cities, and Anthony Albanese looks a possibility to form majority government.
Northern Tasmania was one of the few parts of Australia that stuck by the Liberals, and the state had a swing away from Labor of about 3 per cent, a far cry from the national average of 2.5 per cent towards Labor.
It was vindication for Ms Archer's positioning as a more independent, moderate Liberal who increasingly distanced herself from the party and Prime Minister Scott Morrison as the campaign wore on, ultimately changing her branding from blue to purple.
In Braddon, Mr Pearce enjoyed a 5 per cent swing and was among the first seats called for the Liberals. Despite Labor holding it as recently as 2019, it is now a safe Liberal seat.
Ms Bower's push in Lyons will come down to the wire, although late on Saturday Mr Mitchell had pulled ahead again with only strong Labor booths to count. He saw a swing against him of 4.9 per cent.
Julie Collins comfortably retained Franklin for Labor as expected and will likely move into a new Labor cabinet in government, while independent Andrew Wilkie also held Clark on one of the country's strongest margins.
Labor's poor overall performance in Tasmania however might not be of immediate concern to the federal party given its huge wins on the mainland, but it could prompt questions locally following years of internal turmoil.
In the Senate, long-term Liberal Eric Abetz looks almost certain to lose his seat, with the Jacqui Lambie Network's Tammy Tyrell the most likely to replace him.
What sets Tasmania apart from the rest of Australia?
Tasmania is an island state, not just geographically, but politically too.
In the coming weeks and months - as Labor forms government and attention shifts elsewhere - the state will be left to contemplate what sets it apart from the mainland.
How could the Liberals face electoral wipeout everywhere but in North and North-West Tasmania, some of the country's most disadvantaged areas? Labor leader Anthony Albanese seemed to be in Launceston continuously hammering the message of low wages, lack of action on cost of living and a poor health system.
His failure to cut through here won't be of great concern to the party because, nationally, the Tasmania conundrum is likely to just be a footnote compared with the teal wave, the Greens success in Queensland and the demolition of the Liberals in Western Australia.
But locally, it will matter a lot.
Tasmania will be left with two - and possibly three, at a stretch - lower house members in opposition and another who is independent. New Premier Jeremy Rockliff will need to negotiate with federal Labor counterparts, rather than his more familiar conversations with fellow Liberals.
Yet it could also present new opportunities.
Bridget Archer has shown a new way for the Liberals, one that is willing to listen to vulnerable communities and attempt to advocate for them in the face of powerful interests within her own party. Surely her success - the first incumbent MP to hold the seat for 21 years - cannot go unrewarded, and she be given a more prominent position in the party while in opposition.
So, too, for Braddon's Gavin Pearce. Although he welded himself to the side of the Liberals moreso than the 'purple' Archer, he was able to deliver the party's message to vulnerable communities without becoming mired in the petty politics of many of his city-based counterparts.
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Former premier Peter Gutwein provided a more genuine moderate Liberal voice in politics, as opposed to supposed 'moderate' Liberals federally, which are usually anything but. His legacy has likely flowed into this election, where Tasmanians increasingly associate the Liberal brand with his pandemic management and, throughout 2020 and 2021, the value he placed on protecting the lives of Tasmanians.
The Liberals will now need to assess their losses on the mainland, and there's no better place to look for solutions than in Tasmania. No more mindless culture wars. Listen to what vulnerable communities are saying. And then put forward candidates who respond to this, not those that talk down to their constituents and protect vested interests at all costs. Avoid those whose life skills only extend to student politics and vapid bickering and trolling on social media.
It will also be another wake-up call for Tasmanian Labor, if ever the party needed one.
This was meant to be another red wave, sweeping victories in Bass and Braddon, making Lyons a safe seat. They only needed to convince 280 or so voters in Northern Tasmania to vote for them, but instead, thousands more deserted the party in Bass.
A 2.5 per cent swing to Labor nationally converted to a 3 per cent loss of support in Tasmania.
State and federal issues shouldn't be seen in isolation. Labor's past few years have been shocking in Tasmania, and surely that has flowed through to Saturday's election.
In the aftermath of 2019, Labor's Bass candidate Ross Hart said the party shouldn't shy away from having big policy visions despite losing on the back of significant reforms in housing policy. But the lack of specific policies for those facing poverty was quite stark, from both sides of politics, in an area is traditionally meant to be Labor's bread and butter.
Now in government federally, it has the best opportunity possible to reinstate the Labor brand in Tasmania. Even though it lacks lower house seats, this government must be one that puts people above politics.
Albanese talked a reasonably big game on integrity and transparency in politics. Now is the time to put that into action. Tasmania cannot be ignored, just because people didn't vote for Labor. The party needs to find out why, and put its efforts into solving the problems that matter: housing, health, cost of living and ensuring lives of complete dignity and safety for people doing it tough.
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