With the election now in the books, the House of Assembly has expanded in size from 25 to 35, and the final seat result was 14 Liberal, 10 Labor, five Greens, three Jacqui Lambie Network and three independents: David O’Byrne, Kristie Johnston and Craig Garland.
King Island is in the Braddon electorate, which proved to be a nail biter and the one that many were watching during preference allocation. Elected Liberal MPs Premier Jeremy Rockliff, Felix Ellis, Roger Jaensch and Labor MPs Shane Broad and Anita Dow were returned.
The new Braddon faces are JLN’s Miriam Beswick, who won the sixth seat, and independent Craig Garland, the seventh seat. The Liberals require the support of four cross benchers to form a minority government.
Newcomer Ms Beswick is unknown to the majority of King Island voters. Living in Devonport, Ms Beswick has been a small business owner, is a carer and is active with her family, community and church. During the election, she championed education and healthcare.
“I am really excited to represent Braddon and am planning a trip over to King Island as soon as possible,” she said.
“King Island punches above its weight in so many ways but know that farmers are struggling with the drought amongst other things.
“There are some really particular challenges in Tasmania’s remote communities, and I am looking forward to a deeper understanding of these issues.”
Craig Garland is better known on King Island. He visited and participated in what became known locally as the “Fish farm debate,” when offshore acreage permits were given by the State Government to explore the establishment of salmon farms off the east coast of the island.
The independent has previously stood for parliament and during those elections came to the island to meet and greet with locals. In this election he did not visit the island nor did he directly campaign on the island, however, he gained five per cent of the first preference vote across the Braddon electorate and he did well on the preference flows.
Mr Garland ran on a platform of affordable housing and energy and called for an anti-corruption commission similar to that in Victoria and New South Wales.