Leader of the Opposition (Tasmania)

Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent Dean Winter since 10 April 2024
Term length	While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	Thomas Gregson
Formation	November 1856
Deputy	Anita Dow

The Leader of the Opposition in Tasmania is the title of the leader of the largest minority party in the state lower house, the Tasmanian House of Assembly. They act as the public face of the opposition, leads the opposition on the floor of parliament. They thus act as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government. They are also given certain additional rights under parliamentary standing orders, such as extended time limits for speeches. Should the opposition win an election, the Leader of the Opposition will usually be nominated to become the Premier of Tasmania.

The position of Leader of the Opposition was essentially informal throughout the nineteenth century, with formal recognition only being granted in the early twentieth century. As there was no party system until 1909, the loose ideological blocs in parliament tended to change regularly, and few people lasted in the position for more than one or two years at a time. The development of a party system gave the role greater significance, and it was subsequently given greater formal recognition, with an additional salary payment being accommodated for in 1927 and formal recognition in the parliamentary standing orders in 1937.

The current Leader of the Opposition is Dean Winter of the Labor Party. Winter was elected into the role on 10 April 2024 to replace former Labor Leader Rebecca White following the party’s defeat at the 2024 Tasmanian State Election.

List of leaders of the opposition in Tasmania

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of Office		Party	Constituency	Elections	Premier
	1	Thomas Gregson		1 November 1856	26 February 1857	Independent	Richmond	1856		William Champ 1856–1857
	2	William Champ		26 February 1857	25 April 1857	Independent	Launceston	–		Thomas Gregson 1857
	(1)	Thomas Gregson		25 April 1857	July 1862	Independent	Richmond	–		William Weston 1857
								–		Francis Smith 1857–1860
								–		William Weston 1860–1861
								1861		Thomas Chapman 1861–1863
	3	Charles Meredith		July 1862	20 January 1863	Independent	Glamorgan	1862
	4	Thomas Chapman		February 1863	June 1864	Independent	Campbell Town	–		James Whyte 1863–1866
	5	William Dobson		June 1864	24 November 1866	Independent	Campbell Town	1866
	(3)	Charles Meredith		24 November 1866	4 November 1872	Independent	Kingborough West Devon	–		Sir Richard Dry 1866–1869
								1871		James Wilson 1869–1872
	6	William Giblin		4 November 1872	4 August 1873	Independent	Central Hobart	1872		Frederick Innes 1872–1873
	7	Frederick Innes		4 August 1873	March 1875	Independent	North Launceston	–		Alfred Kennerley 1873–1876
	8	Thomas Reibey		August 1875	20 July 1876	Independent	Westbury	–
	(6)	William Giblin		20 July 1876	June 1877	Independent	Central Hobart	–		Thomas Reibey 1876–1877
	9	Philip Fysh		July 1877	9 August 1877	Independent	East Hobart	1877
	(8)	Thomas Reibey		September 1877	20 December 1878	Independent	Westbury	–		Philip Fysh 1877–1878
								–		William Giblin 1878
	(6)	William Giblin		January 1879	30 October 1879	Independent	Wellington	–		William Crowther 1878–1879
	9	Alfred Dobson		October 1882	July 1885	Independent	Glenorchy	1882		William Giblin 1879–1884
								–		Adye Douglas 1884–1886
	(8)	Thomas Reibey		July 1885	August 1886	Independent	Westbury	1886
								–		James Agnew 1886–1887
	10	Edward Braddon		August 1886	29 March 1887	Independent	West Devon	–
	11	Nicholas Brown		July 1887	July 1889	Independent	Cumberland	–		Philip Fysh 1887–1892
	12	William Burgess		July 1889	August 1891	Independent	West Hobart	1891
	13	Henry Dobson		September 1891	17 August 1892	Independent	Brighton	–
	14	Stafford Bird		17 August 1892	February 1894	Independent	Franklin	1893		Henry Dobson 1892–1894
	(10)	Sir Edward Braddon		February 1894	14 April 1894	Independent	West Devon	–
	15	Elliott Lewis		May 1894	November 1897	Independent	Richmond	1897		Sir Edward Braddon 1894–1899
	16	Andrew Clark		November 1897	May 1898	Independent	Hobart	–
	(14)	Stafford Bird		June 1898	12 October 1899	Independent	Franklin	–
	(10)	Sir Edward Braddon		12 October 1899	29 March 1901	Free Trade	West Devon	1900		Sir Elliott Lewis 1899–1903
	(8)	Thomas Reibey		May 1901	October 1901	Protectionist	Westbury	–
	17	William Propsting		October 1901	9 April 1903	Protectionist	North Hobart	1903
	18	Robert Patterson		May 1903	March 1904	Anti-Socialist	South Hobart	–		William Propsting 1903–1904
	19	John Evans		March 1904	12 July 1904	Anti-Socialist	Kingborough	–
	(17)	William Propsting		12 July 1904	December 1905	Protectionist	North Hobart	–		John Evans 1904–1909
	20	Herbert Nicholls		January 1906	January 1909	Protectionist	Central Hobart	1906
	21	John Earle		April 1909	20 October 1909	Labor	Waratah Franklin	1909
								–		Sir Elliott Lewis 1909
	(15)	Sir Elliott Lewis		20 October 1909	27 October 1909	Liberal League	Denison	–		John Earle 1909
	(21)	John Earle		27 October 1909	6 April 1914	Labor	Franklin	1912		Sir Elliott Lewis 1909–1912
								1913		Albert Solomon 1912–1914
	22	Albert Solomon		6 April 1914	5 October 1914	Liberal League	Bass	–		John Earle 1914–1916
	23	Norman Ewing		5 October 1914	23 September 1915	Liberal League	Franklin	–
	24	Sir Walter Lee		23 September 1915	15 April 1916	Liberal League	Wilmot	1916
	(21)	John Earle		15 April 1916	2 November 1916	Labor	Franklin	–		Sir Walter Lee 1916–1922
	25	Joseph Lyons		2 November 1916	25 October 1923	Labor	Wilmot	1919
								1922
								–		John Hayes 1922–1923
								–		Sir Walter Lee 1923
	26	Edward Hobbs		25 October 1923	November 1923	Country	Darwin	–		Joseph Lyons 1923–1928
	27	James Newton		November 1923	October 1924	Nationalist	Bass	–
	(26)	Edward Hobbs		October 1924	29 July 1925	Country	Darwin	1925
	28	John McPhee		29 July 1925	15 June 1928	Nationalist	Denison	1928
	(25)	Joseph Lyons		15 June 1928	13 September 1929	Labor	Wilmot	–		John McPhee 1928–1934
	29	Benjamin Watkins		13 September 1929	15 October 1929	Labor	Franklin	–
	30	Albert Ogilvie		15 October 1929	22 June 1934	Labor	Franklin	1931
								1934		Sir Walter Lee 1934
	(24)	Sir Walter Lee		22 July 1934	July 1936	Nationalist	Wilmot	–		Albert Ogilvie 1934–1939
	31	Henry Baker		July 1936	22 February 1945	Nationalist	Franklin	1937
								–		Edmund Dwyer-Gray 1939
								1941		Robert Cosgrove 1939–1947
	32	Neil Campbell		22 February 1945	6 February 1950	Liberal	Wilmot	1946
								–		Edward Brooker 1947–1948
								1948		Robert Cosgrove 1948–1958
	33	Reginald Townley		6 February 1950	26 June 1956	Liberal	Denison	1950
								1955
	34	Tim Jackson		26 June 1956	19 March 1960	Liberal	Franklin	1956
								1959		Eric Reece 1958–1969
	35	Angus Bethune		19 March 1960	27 May 1969	Liberal	Wilmot	1964
								1969
	36	Eric Reece		27 May 1969	4 May 1972	Labor	Braddon	1972		Angus Bethune 1969–1972
	37	Max Bingham		4 May 1972	7 August 1979	Liberal	Denison	–		Eric Reece 1972–1975
								1976		Bill Neilson 1975–1977
								1979		Doug Lowe 1977–1981
	38	Geoff Pearsall		7 August 1979	11 November 1981	Liberal	Franklin	–
	39	Robin Gray		11 November 1981	27 May 1982	Liberal	Wilmot	1982		Harry Holgate 1981–1982
	40	Ken Wriedt		27 May 1982	19 February 1986	Labor	Franklin	1986		Robin Gray 1982–1989
	41	Neil Batt		19 February 1986	14 December 1988	Labor	Denison	–
	42	Michael Field		14 December 1988	29 June 1989	Labor	Braddon	1989
	(39)	Robin Gray		29 June 1989	17 December 1991	Liberal	Lyons	–		Michael Field 1989–1992
	43	Ray Groom		17 December 1991	17 February 1992	Liberal	Denison	1992
	(42)	Michael Field		17 February 1992	14 April 1997	Labor	Braddon	1996		Ray Groom 1992–1996
								–		Tony Rundle 1996–1998
	44	Jim Bacon		14 April 1997	14 September 1998	Labor	Denison	1998
	45	Tony Rundle		14 September 1998	2 July 1999	Liberal	Braddon	–		Jim Bacon 1998–2004
	46	Sue Napier		2 July 1999	20 August 2001	Liberal	Bass	–
	47	Bob Cheek		20 August 2001	6 August 2002	Liberal	Denison	2002
	48	Rene Hidding		6 August 2002	30 March 2006	Liberal	Lyons	–
								2006		Paul Lennon 2004–2008
	49	Will Hodgman		30 March 2006	31 March 2014	Liberal	Franklin	–
								2010		David Bartlett 2008–2011
								2014		Lara Giddings 2011–2014
	50	Bryan Green		31 March 2014	17 March 2017	Labor	Braddon	–		Will Hodgman 2014–2020
	51	Rebecca White		17 March 2017	17 May 2021	Labor	Lyons	2018
								2021		Peter Gutwein 2020–2022
	52	David O'Byrne		15 June 2021	7 July 2021	Labor	Franklin	–
	(51)	Rebecca White		7 July 2021	Incumbent	Labor	Lyons	–
								–		Jeremy Rockliff 2022–

External links

• Leaders of the Opposition (Parliament of Tasmania)