Janie Finlay

Janie Finlay (née Dickenson; born 2 August 1974) is an Australian politician currently the Member for Bass in the Tasmanian House of Assembly.^[2]

Janie Finlay MP
Finlay meeting constituents in 2024
Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Bass
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 2021 Serving with 6 others
Mayor of Launceston
In office 22 February 2002 – 31 October 2005
Preceded by	Annette Waddle
Succeeded by	Ivan Dean
Personal details
Born	Janie Dickenson (1974-08-02) 2 August 1974 (age 51)[1]
Political party	Labor

Early life

Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Janie attended the University of Tasmania in Hobart at what is now the School of Creative Arts and Media.

Majoring in furniture design, she started her career running her own studio in Glebe, New South Wales.

She returned to Tasmania and took up a position with the Beacon Foundation as youth coordinator. Working at Launceston College she created programme at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre to help break the cycle of reoffending.

After securing backing from Federal and State Governments for her scheme, she then had to convince her local government of the merits of such a programme.

Local Politics & Mayor of Launceston

After having her education plan for Ashley rebuffed by local council, she ran as a candidate and was duly elected to the Launceston City Council in 2000. From 2002 to 2005 served as Mayor. When Finlay was elected to that position in February 2002, at age 27, she was the youngest female mayor to serve in Australia.^[3]

She lost her mayoral position in the October 2005 elections to Ivan Dean by 441 votes after the distribution of preferences.^[4] She had been the favourite in her race for a second term, and on 26 October 2005, The Examiner local newspaper ran a front-page story claiming she was winning by 2,000 votes. But by the next day it was revealed Ivan Dean had secured the lead after preferences of two other candidates were distributed.^[4] Finlay was re-elected as a Councillor, securing almost two quotas of first preference votes. She resigned from council in 2007.^[5]

Finlay regained her position as Councillor on the Launceston City Council at the 2014 local government elections, securing almost a full quota of first preferences.^[6]

State Parliament

In May 2021 Finlay was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly as a Labor representative for Bass.^[7][8]

As part of the opposition front bench, Finlay's portfolio included Primary Industries and Small Business.^[9]

In March 2024 Finlay retained her seat at the 2024 Tasmanian state election with an increase of 20% her votes.^[10]

Finlay was re-elected at the 2025 Tasmanian state election.^[11]

Other interests

Janie served on the inaugural board of the Tasmania JackJumpers in 2020, helping to establish a state-wide National Basketball League team in Tasmania. She has also been a board member of the Launceston Tornadoes Women's Basketball team.