Governor of Tasmania

The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the monarch, currently. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Government House located at the Queens Domain in Hobart. The governor's primary task is to perform the sovereign's constitutional duties on their behalf.
The position has its origins in the positions of commandant and lieutenant-governor in the colonial administration of Van Diemen's Land. The territory was separated from the Colony of New South Wales in 1825 and the title "governor" was used from 1855, the same year in which it adopted its current name. In accordance with the conventions of the Westminster system of parliamentary government, the governor now almost always acts on the advice of the head of the elected government, the premier of Tasmania.
Tasmania retained British-born governors longer than most other states. The first Australian-born governor was Sir Stanley Burbury and the first Tasmanian-born governor was Sir Guy Green. Since Burbury, all Tasmanian governors have been Australian-born, except for Peter Underwood who was born in Britain but immigrated to Australia when a teenager.

WWW govhouse.tas.gov.au IG governortas

Role

The responsibilities of the Governor of Tasmania include:

dissolving or proroguing the Parliament of Tasmania
issuing writs for Tasmanian elections and elections for Tasmanian Senators
appointing the Premier and other state Ministers
assenting to Bills, issuing regulations and other proclamations
presiding over meetings of the Executive Council
appointing judges, royal commissioners, and individuals to statutory boards and to tribunals.

Although not a responsibility of the office of Governor of Tasmania, governors of Tasmania are - like all Governors of the Australian states - normally given a dormant commission to administer the government of the Commonwealth of Australia in the absence from Australia, or the death, incapacity or removal from office of the Governor-General by the Sovereign.

Titles

Since December 2014, the incumbent and all future Tasmanian governors have been entitled to be styled as Their Excellency The Honourable while in office and styled The Honourable after retirement.

Governor's personal flag

The personal flag of the governor of Tasmania is the same design as the British blue ensign with the Union Flag at the upper left quarter. On the right side, the state badge of Tasmania, consisting of a white disk with a red lion passant, is surmounted by St. Edward's Crown. The flag was adopted in 1977.
If the standard is flying at Government House, on a vehicle or vessel, or at an event, this indicates that the governor is present.
;Past and present flags of the governor

Divided in two

Between 1804 and 1813, Van Diemen's Land was divided along the 42nd parallel, and the two sections governed as separate lieutenant-governorships under the governor of New South Wales. Collins was the only officially appointed lieutenant-governor—upon his death in 1810, the government in Hobart Town was administered, by the Commandants at Hobart Town. The northern settlement at Port Dalrymple was administered by four commandants until the settlements were merged to form the single colony under the governorship of Thomas Davey in 1813.

List of governors of Tasmania

Lieutenant-governors

The colony was called Van Diemen's Land until 1856.