After 16 years in office, the Tasmanian Labor government of Premier Lara Giddings faces an uphill task to win the Tasmanian election on March 15. Labor has been in office since 1998 and is currently the country's longest serving administration. Giddings began election year by ending Labor's coalition agreement with the Greens in an attempt to shore up Labor's base vote, but polls indicate that Liberal Leader Will Hodgman is clear favourite to become Tasmania's next Premier. In his way is Tasmania's proportional Hare-Clark electoral system, which three times in recent decades has delivered the balance of power to Tasmania's Greens.
