Strained Parliamentary Relations: Green-supported minority government in Tasmania

Abstract

This article takes Strom's and Moon's discussion of minority regimes and explores it in the Tasmanian context by reviewing the Labor-Green Accord (1989-92) and the Liberal-Green Alliance (1996-98) governments. It argues that these Green-supported minority governments in Tasmania, while short-lived and contentious, have had significant positive implications for public policy and the shaping of politics, and for not entirely precluding, in fact for encouraging, reform agendas. Indeed, it is argued that they illustrate Kingdon's notion of policy windows whereby problems, policies and politics come together at critical times, in times of crisis for instance, and facilitate fundamental policy innovation and change. The article characterises Green minority government in Tasmania, examines the circumstances that led to its creation, acknowledges the ideological strain of Greens partnering government, but concludes that Green minority government offers significant reform opportunities. By considering these two very different governments, this paper adds empirical justification to Strom's and Green-Pedersen's case that minority governments are far from passive and constrained in terms of governing capacity.