The palynology of DSDP sites 280 to 284 from the region adjacent to and south of Tasmania, and to the west of New Zealand is described, and the sequence is discussed in terms of the international stages. The Early Cenozoic dinoflagellate assemblages at the sites have characteristic associations like those previously described from Antarctica and southern South America, but not like those from southern Australia or New Zealand. This forms a characteristic high-latitude Early Cenozoic biogeographic province, about the time of separation of Australia from Antarctica. The presence in the sequences of reworked non-marine palynofloras of Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous ages indicate that southeastern Australia contributed extensively to the Cenozoic sediments adjacent to and south of Tasmania.