{"id":645992,"date":"2026-05-03T01:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T01:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/645992\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T01:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T01:20:17","slug":"strong-lead-for-jo-palmer-tight-race-shaping-in-huon-following-legislative-council-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/645992\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong lead for Jo Palmer, tight race shaping in Huon following Legislative Council elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tasmanian government has claimed victory for incumbent MLC Jo Palmer after yesterday’s Legislative Council election in her electorate of Rosevears, as a tight battle is shaping up between two independents in the southern seat of Huon.<\/p>\n

Voters in two Legislative Council divisions \u2014 Rosevears, which takes in the West Tamar council area and some Launceston suburbs, and Huon, which includes the Kingborough and Huon Valley council areas \u2014 went to the polls yesterday.<\/p>\n

Education Minister Jo Palmer has a comfortable lead in Rosevears, with 42.6 per cent of the first preference vote counted so far.<\/p>\n

\"woman<\/p>\n

Jo Palmer has a strong lead in Rosevears. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Trailing behind her is Labor candidate Ben McKinnon, with just under 25 per cent, followed by Greens candidate Charlene McLennan and Independent Susan Monson.<\/p>\n

Premier Jeremy Rockliff today said it was clear Ms Palmer would be returned.<\/p>\n

“Can I say to Jo and her family and her team, congratulations,” Mr Rockliff said.<\/p>\n

He said it was “a testament of a lot of hard work over the course of the last six years”.<\/p>\n

Ms Palmer said it was both “overwhelming” and “humbling” to see the results rolling in.<\/p>\n

“It’s quite scary when you put yourself out there and \u2026 you work as hard as you can, and then you just have to sit back on the night and keep hitting that refresh button and seeing the numbers coming in,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But it was a great relief and very humbling to be looking like I will be able to continue working for the next six years.”<\/p>\n

Tasmanian election analyst Kevin Bonham said based on current numbers, it was “very likely” Ms Palmer would retain her seat.<\/p>\n

However, he said the final result would most likely end up much closer than it currently looks.<\/p>\n

“Most Legislative Council incumbents are returned and Labor is at a big disadvantage in the north of the state,” Dr Bonham said.<\/p>\n

“We’ll have to wait and see what the final result is. It might not be all that lopsided after preferences \u2026 given the Green preferences will favour Labor strongly.”<\/p>\n

Tight race in Huon<\/p>\n

In the southern seat of Huon, where incumbent Independent MLC Dean Harriss is vying for a second six-year term, it is a much tighter race, which Dr Bonham said was too close to call.<\/p>\n

Mr Harriss currently holds the lead, having won 30.6 per cent of the vote so far.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dean Harriss has a tense wait ahead of him as vote counting continues. (ABC News: Sophie Jaggers)<\/p>\n

However, close behind is Kingborough Council Deputy Mayor Clare Glade-Wright, with 27.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

Ms Glade-Wright is also running as an independent.<\/p>\n

“I think Dean Harriss’s lead, at this stage, is probably not enough,” Dr Bonham said.<\/p>\n

“We will have to wait and see when the vote is counted, but he really would have wanted a larger lead than that.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Clare Glade-Wright is in with a chance in Huon. (ABC News: Sophie Jaggers)<\/p>\n

‘Several stages’ of counting to go through<\/p>\n

TEC communications manager Glenn Jeffrey said the results would likely come down to preference distribution.<\/p>\n

“We’ve completed the first stage of the count process, the first preference count on polling night, but there’s still several stages to go through,” Mr Jeffery said.<\/p>\n

“It does look like we’re going to have to go through the full distribution of preferences to see the full result and that takes a number of days.<\/p>\n

“We will also have to wait probably for postal votes to return after that 10-day deadline.”<\/p>\n

Today, the commission will check and verify ballot papers, with counting to resume tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Rechecks of first preferences will happen on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

What were the issues on voters’ minds?<\/p>\n

Cost of living was top of mind for some who voted at the Huonville Primary School polling place yesterday.<\/p>\n

“I’m sick of the cost of living, struggling to buy food and pay my mortgage,” voter Heather said.<\/p>\n

“I’m definitely hoping an independent will get in, someone that feels strongly about the Huon and loves the Huon,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Huon<\/p>\n

Cost of living was one of the main issues for Huon voter Heather. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

As a nurse, Heather said she wants to see better healthcare for the region, especially for the elderly.<\/p>\n

“It’s a real struggle for them to get to hospital for specialists, that’s a huge issue for me,” she said.<\/p>\n

Rosevears voter Julie said key issues for her are aged care and public transport.<\/p>\n

“There’s only so much money to go around so you have to focus on what’s important for the whole community,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Rosevears<\/p>\n

Aged care and public transport were key issues for Rosevears voter Julie. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

The Legislative Council is the upper house of the Tasmanian parliament.<\/p>\n

Members are elected for six-year terms on a rotating basis, meaning that every year, two or three members are up for election.<\/p>\n

It is currently dominated by independents who hold eight of the 15 seats.<\/p>\n

The government and Labor each hold three, and the Greens one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tasmanian government has claimed victory for incumbent MLC Jo Palmer after yesterday’s Legislative Council election in her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,312588,162257,239990,312587,153170,23235,312585,44,312586,298699,5728],"class_list":["post-645992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-clare-glade-wright","tag-dean-harriss","tag-huon","tag-jo-palmer","tag-legco","tag-legislative-council","tag-legislative-council-elections","tag-news","tag-rosevears","tag-tasmanian-parliament","tag-upper-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}