Tasmanians for a Better Future is a group of concerned business and community members that was formed in the lead up to the 2006 Tasmanian state election.
An election for the House of Assembly was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 18 March 2006, the same day as the South Australian elections. The Labor Party led by Premier Paul Lennon, won a third successive majority government term in office, despite predictions the election would result in a minority government. Although there was a small swing against Labor, they finished with 14 seats, and there were no changes in the party composition of the assembly. The Liberal Party led by Rene Hidding gained a small swing and finished with seven seats. The Tasmanian Greens led by Peg Putt suffered a small swing and finished with four seats; meaning no change in seat representation since the last election. Had the Greens lost one of their four seats, they would have lost their status as a major party and would lose financial resources, offices and support staff.
The group placed many advertisements encouraging people to vote for majority government to avoid risking a minority government being elected, [1] which they argued would be disastrous for commerce and industry within the state. Prior minority governments during the 1990s had presided over rising unemployment and state debt, negative growth and falling business investment, with pro-environmental, anti-business legislation forced upon by the Tasmanian Greens considered partly to blame.
A minority government, minority cabinet or minority parliament is a cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament. It is sworn into office, with or without the formal support of other parties, to enable a government to be formed. Under such a government, legislation can only be passed with the support of enough other members of the legislature to provide a majority, encouraging multi-partisanship. In bicameral parliaments, the term relates to the situation in chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial to the continuance in office of the government.
The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign. They form a part of the Australian Greens.
The advertisements were under the name of Tony Harrison, who runs the Corporate Communications public relations company. [1]
Tony Harrison is a communications consultant from Tasmania who has worked in journalism and public relations, marketing and government relations. He is a former political journalist and former press secretary to two Tasmanian Premiers. Tony Harrison was a former corporate affairs manager with the Australian Tourist Commission. He is a former Executive Chairman of Tasmanian public relations, marketing and government relations consultancy, Corporate Communications and was a majority shareholder of the business. Tony Harrison has been involved in providing high-level corporate advice and political lobbying services to clients in Tasmania and Australia, as well as overseeing community consultation programs for the corporate sector and for government. He is the former National President of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) and past President of the PRIA in Tasmania. He has won awards for public relations and marketing including a PRIA National Golden Target Gold Award in 2000 and 2003 for government communication. The consultancy has won a National Golden Target Gold award. Tony Harrison was also awarded a special Tasmania Day Award for his service to the public relations profession. Outside the business, Tony Harrison is a Director of Cricket Australia and former Chairman of Cricket Tasmania, and a member of the Council of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
Public relations (PR) is the practice of deliberately managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization and the public. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. This differentiates it from advertising as a form of marketing communications. Public relations is the idea of creating coverage for clients for free, rather than marketing or advertising. But now, advertising is also a part of greater PR Activities. An example of good public relations would be generating an article featuring a client, rather than paying for the client to be advertised next to the article. The aim of public relations is to inform the public, prospective customers, investors, partners, employees, and other stakeholders and ultimately persuade them to maintain a positive or favorable view about the organization, its leadership, products, or political decisions. Public relations professionals typically work for PR and marketing firms, businesses and companies, government, and public officials as PIOs and nongovernmental organizations, and nonprofit organizations. Jobs central to public relations include account coordinator, account executive, account supervisor, and media relations manager.
