In the afternoon, the Governor received Mr Andrew Hawkey, Electoral Commissioner, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

As His Majesty The King’s representative in Tasmania, the Governor’s main duty is to exercise the constitutional powers of the Head of State.

She plays an important role in elections, by proroguing Parliament and dissolving the House of Assembly, and issuing the writs for an election.

A writ is an official document signed by the Governor commanding the Tasmanian Electoral Commissioner to hold an election, and it contains key dates for that election.

The Governor issued the writs for the recent House of Assembly general election to the Electoral Commissioner on 18 June. This followed her issue of Proclamations to prorogue Parliament and dissolve the House of Assembly on 11 June.

There are five writs for this election, one for each of the five electoral divisions: Clark, Franklin, Lyons, Bass and Braddon.

To conclude the election process, this afternoon the Governor received the Electoral Commissioner, Andrew Hawkey, at Government House.

Mr Hawkey returned the writs, which are now inscribed with the names of the Members of the House of Assembly who have been elected in each of the five divisions.

The Governor then signed the writs, formally bringing to a close the election process.

Further updates regarding the formation of government will be provided in due course.