Tasmania votes: Liberals sweep to power, ending 16 years of Labor rule

Updated

Tasmanian Liberal leader Will Hodgman has won the state election, ending 16 years in Opposition.

With 80 per cent of the vote counted, the Liberal Party has won more than half the vote and is set to take majority government with 14 seats in the 25-seat Parliament.

It is the Liberals' best ever electoral result.

Mr Hodgman has also broken the hex of being the country's longest-serving Opposition Leader and will be the state's next Premier.

The Tasmanian Liberal Party stormed into power, posting its best electoral result in 60 years.

It is shaping as a comfortable victory for the leader who campaigned on returning the state to a majority government after four years of a Labor-Green minority.

There has been a swing against the Labor Party in all five seats, making it the worst election result for the party in six decades.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Hodgman declares victory (7pm TV News TAS)

The Liberals look set to pick up an extra seat in every electorate except Denison.

ABC analyst Antony Green says Labor has won six seats and the Greens two, with three seats still undecided.

There was an 8 per cent swing against the Greens and they could lose three of their five seats.

At the tally room in Hobart, Mr Hodgman declared Tasmanians had voted for change.

"In 2014, Tasmanians have delivered a majority government for Tasmania," he told the crowd.

"Make no mistake, Tasmanians have voted for a change in direction and this is what we intend to deliver.

"We are working for the future and we are ready to govern this state and give it a sense of purpose and confidence with a strong, stable majority government which has a plan for this state.

"Tonight brings to an end the longest reign of an opposition leader, in world history apparently, and thank heavens for that."

He also said Tasmania had voted resoundingly for a change on forestry.

Giddings concedes, says Labor should be proud of achievements

Labor leader Lara Giddings earlier conceded defeat at a party function in Hobart.

She said she was proud of her government and its achievements.

"We will leave this office with this state in far better shape than when we inherited in 1998," she said.

"Tasmania is more inclusive, progressive, more dynamic and culturally confident than we were in 1998.

"We do have to accept after 16 years, Tasmanians today have voted for a change."

Ms Giddings defended her record and power-sharing government with the Greens.

"We not only provided that stability but we reformed," she said.

She congratulated Mr Hodgman on his success and said she was sorry that his father, former MP Michael Hodgman, had not lived to see him become the state's 45th Premier.

She also paid tribute to her colleagues, including former minister David O'Byrne, who has lost his seat in Franklin.

Ms Giddings and Greens leader Nick McKim have been re-elected in Franklin, and the Liberals' Paul Harriss is likely to be elected.

Mr Hodgman's vote in Franklin is the largest of any candidate in the state election, and could become a record for an Opposition Leader.

McKim says Greens will hold government to account

Speaking in the tally room, Mr McKim said "he took full responsibility for the result."

He said Tasmanians would be worse off without a socially progressive government.

"While we have a Liberal Government in Canberra, and a Liberal Government in Tasmania, the Greens will be there to hold those Governments to account, we will be there to hold those Governments to account," he said.

"We will fight everyday with all of our heart."

Mr McKim was hoping to become the next opposition leader and said the Greens were down but not out.

"Our time will come again."

Liberals could claim four seats in north-west

The Liberals look set to win three seats in Braddon, in the north-west and could claim a fourth .

The Greens' Paul O'Halloran looks to have lost his seat and the battle for the fifth could be between the ALP and the Liberals.

Outspoken ALP backbencher Brenton Best is in trouble, polling far fewer votes than outgoing deputy premier Bryan Green.

In the key rural electorate of Lyons, the Liberals are on track to pick up an extra seat, with former Senator Guy Barnett polling strongly.

Liberal MP Rene Hidding has retained his seat and says the Tasmanian people have given the party a mandate to rip up the forest peace deal.

"The mums and dads, the small businesses, have just been wiped out as a result of this awful public policy," he said.

"We said we'd do it again, we'd rip the deal up and rebuild a sustainable forest industry.

"We're committed to that and we're going to make that happen."

In the northern seat of Bass, the Liberals are on track to pick up a third seat a the expense of Labor.

The battle for the fifth seat is likely to be between outgoing cabinet minister Brian Wightman and the Greens Kim Booth.

Mr Booth says the big swing against the Greens is due to the party's four years supporting Labor in minority.

"Given that there had been 12 years of hard Labor and one of the most corrupt periods in Tasmania's history...that it actually has damaged our brand and I think it'll be a good thing and in opposition be able to truly show our own identity," he said.

All sitting members in Denison have retained their seats, with a Labor candidate to replace retired MP Graeme Sturges.

Despite a big-spending campaign, the Palmer United Party has failed to win a seat.

PUP has captured only 5 per cent of the primary vote overall, a result state leader and Braddon candidate Kevin Morgan blames on the Liberal party.

"I believe that our vote has probably gone the way the Liberal Party has run their campaign, and they've been very aggressive towards our party," he said.

Mr Morgan has not given up hope of winning a seat in Braddon, despite only securing 7 per cent of the primary vote so far.

Topics: states-and-territories, elections, tas

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