Tasmanians can expect a political challenge when the new parliament returns, with Bass Labor MP Michelle O'Byrne confirming her run to become the 40th Speaker of the House of Assembly.
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The Liberals will nominate previous speaker Lyons Liberal MHA Mark Shelton for the role, with Labor now set to put forward Ms O'Byrne.
Her nomination will open up a secret ballot on the first day of parliament which, if successful, would make Ms O'Byrne the first Northern female speaker of the Tasmanian parliament.
Ms O'Byrne said her decision to nominate was based on a desire to lift the standards in parliament which, in recent years, have been marred by personal attacks.
With more than two decades of political experience, she said the formal procedures of parliament - the standing orders - had either been ignored or not followed correctly, resulting in a loss of respect for the parliament in general.
"One of the things that has been concerning is the way the standards in parliament have dropped. I firmly believe that if we follow the standing orders appropriately we will remove the frustrations of members in the chamber, which leads to that poorer behaviour," Ms O'Byrne said.
"The speaker's job is to ensure there is an appropriate and orderly framework, so that we members are able to discharge our duties to make sure we end up with the best possible legislation to pass to the upper house."
Need for order in the House of Assembly
Traditionally the government of the day nominates a candidate for speaker who is usually successfully elected into the role, but the minority government opens up opportunity for change.
Ms O'Byrne said the new parliament was more diverse, greater in number and contained members with less experience on the floor, and this created an even greater need for order.
"We are going into a different time, and with the government operating in a minority arrangement it means that the structure of the parliament needs to work fairly, to ensure everyone has an opportunity to have their say, and be supported while they do so."
A government spokesperson would not be drawn on whether the Liberals would vote outside of their party for the role.
"The speakership is a matter for Parliament. As we have said, it is the Liberal Party's intention to nominate Mark Shelton."
