Pembroke – Tasmania LC 2019

Incumbent MLC
Jo Siejka (Labor), since 2017.

Geography
Eastern shore of the Derwent River. Pembroke covers the eastern suburbs of Hobart, separated from the majority of the urban area by the river. Pembroke covers the suburbs between Geilston Bay in the north and Tranmere in the south.

Redistribution
Pembroke lost its northern areas to Rumney. This area included Otago, Risdon and Risdon Vale.

History
Pembroke has existed as a Legislative Council seat continuously since 1856. The seat was held by independents by over 130 years, but in recent decades has been one of the few seats to be contested by the major parties.

Three generations of the Murdoch family (James Sr, James Jr and John) consecutively held the seat from 1903 to 1936. James Jr and John both won the seat on the death of their father.

Ben McKay held the seat from 1959 until his death in 1976. He was succeeded by his son Peter.

Peter McKay was elected as an independent, but joined the Liberal Party in 1991. He served as a minister from 1996 to 1998.

McKay retired in 1999, and the by-election was won by Clarence mayor Cathy Edwards, defeating Lara Giddings (who went on to become Premier).

Edwards was defeated in 2001 by Labor candidate Allison Ritchie. Ritchie was re-elected in 2007 with 42.9% of the primary vote.

In 2009, Ritchie resigned from Parliament.

The 2009 by-election was won by Liberal candidate Vanessa Goodwin. Goodwin was re-elected in 2013, and served as a minister in the Liberal government and as leader of the government in the upper house after the 2014 election. Goodwin resigned from parliament in 2017 due to ill-health, and died in 2018.

The 2017 by-election won by Labor’s Jo Siejka, with 57.4% of the two-candidate-preferred vote against her Liberal rival.

Candidates

• Ronald Cornish
• Carlo Di Falco (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers)
• Kristy Johnson (Liberal)
• Tony Mulder
• Jo Siejka (Labor)

Assessment
This seat is likely to be a contest between the two major parties. It seems likely that Labor will be advantaged thanks to incumbency, but it’s still hard to predict.

2013 result

2017 by-election result

2017 by-election two-candidate-preferred result

Booth breakdown

Booths have been divided into three areas: North, Central and South.

At the 2013 election, the Liberal Party’s Vanessa Goodwin topped the primary vote in every area, ranging from 46.6% in the centre to 55.5% in the south. Runner-up Allison Ritchie’s vote ranged from 32.5% in the south to 39.7% in the centre.

At the 2017 by-election, Labor’s Jo Siejka topped the primary vote in all three areas, ranging from 31.6% in the south to 38% in the centre. Liberal candidate James Walker’s vote ranged from 21% in the centre to 27.8% in the south.

2013 booth breakdown

2017 by-election booth breakdown

Election results in Pembroke at the 2013 Legislative Council election
Toggle between Liberal primary votes and primary votes for independent candidate Allison Ritchie.

Election results at the 2017 Pembroke by-election
Toggle between Labor and Liberal primary votes.

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