DOCSLIB.ORG

Australian Greens Victoria GPO Box 4589 MELBOURNE VIC 3001 The

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Australian Greens Victoria GPO Box 4589 MELBOURNE VIC 3001 The EMC Submission No. 87 Received 30 August 2019 Australian Greens Victoria GPO Box 4589 MELBOURNE VIC 3001 The Executive OFFicer Electoral Matters Committee Parliament House, Spring Street EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002 30 August 2019 Dear Members oF the Electoral Matters Committee and Executive OFFicer, Please Find attached the submission From the Australian Greens Victoria to your inquiry into the conduct of the 2018 State Election. We are willing to provide more inFormation and expand on any issues raised in this submission as the Committee desires. Kind regards, Rohan Leppert Acting State Director Australian Greens Victoria SUBMISSION By the Australian Greens Victoria To the Electoral Matters Committee’s inquiry into the conduct of the 2018 State Election 1. We welcome the opportunity to provide a submission to the Electoral Matters Committee (the Committee) on the conduct of the 2018 State Election. Our submission is divided into Five themes: 1 - The distortion oF the democratic will oF voters by Group Voting Tickets in the Legislative Council. 2 - Victoria’s two-speed population growth will require a review of the Legislative Council electoral structure. 3 - The role oF Victorian Electoral Commission staFF and Victoria Police in relation to ofFences under the Electoral Act. 4 - The counting and storage oF prepoll votes. 5 - Authorisation oF online political communications. PART ONE: The distortion of the democratic will of voters by Group Voting Tickets in the Legislative Council. 2. The Constitution (Parliamentary Reform) Act 2003 was the most comprehensive reForm of Victoria’s Parliament since its inception in 1856. It amended the Victorian Constitution and the Electoral Act to, among other things, introduce a new electoral structure and voting method For the Legislative Council. 3. In moving the bill’s second reading motion, the then Premier, Steve Bracks, opened his remarks by stating: One oF the most important cornerstones oF our way oF liFe in Victoria is our system of parliamentary democracy. Since coming to ofFice this government has taken many steps to make Victoria a leader in open and accountable government, giving Victorians greater confidence in their elected representatives. The Constitution (Parliamentary ReForm) Bill 2003 is no diFFerent. The momentous initiatives in this bill will bring our Parliament into line with other 1 states and ensure that Victoria has the strongest possible democratic safeguards. 4. The Premier Further argued that, “As recommended by the Constitution Commission, the bill adopts the commonwealth Senate style of voting For the upper house, with the major reform of optional preferential voting below the line… The Bill creates a system oF proportional representation combined with multi-member electorates For the upper house. This method ensures the highest level of regional participation in a way that is consistent with the democratic principle of one vote, one value.” 5. Sixteen years have passed since the assent oF the Constitution (Parliamentary Reform) Act 2003. In our opinion, the Act’s lofty aims for renewed confidence in electoral institutions were achieved at the time, but in 2019 the electoral system that is the legacy of the Act no longer gives Victoria anything like the ‘strongest possible democratic safeguards’ promised. The Committee should assess the purposes of the 2003 Legislative Council reforms and will Find that they are no longer being met. 6. The Constitution Commission’s Final report oF June 2002, on which the Constitution (Parliamentary Reform) Act 2003 was based, makes no mention oF Group Voting Tickets. It noted the problems oF double member electorates (with single member elections every Four years For eight year terms) and the need to transition towards a more representative electoral system, and recommended the adoption oF a Senate-style multi-member proportionally elected house. 7. The gaming oF Group Voting Tickets has increased since that time, and this phenomenon was a key rationale For the reform of the Senate voting system in 2016. The Federal Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters published an Interim report on the inquiry into the conduct of the 2013 Federal Election: Senate voting practices, which recommended without dissent that Group Voting Tickets be abolished in the Senate.1 8. In implementing the unanimously agreed recommendation of the Joint Standing Committee, the then Government moved to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act in 2016. The then Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, noted that the removal of Group Voting Tickets was necessary because “The system has been taken advantage oF. ... The last Senate election was widely criticised. Australians were astonished to see people elected to the Senate whose primary votes were a fraction in the case of one Senator from Victoria, about halF of one per cent of the vote.”2 The then Special Minister oF State, Mathias Cormann, stated that “under the current system, 97 per cent oF people [vote above the line]. At that point, they lose control oF their preFerences. Parties then, through insufFiciently 1 https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Electoral_Matters/2013_General_Elec tion/Final_Report 2 https://www.Financeminister.gov.au/transcript/2016/02/22/joint-press-conference-prime-minister 2 transparent group and individual voting ticket arrangements, direct what happens with people’s preferences. What we are wanting to do For voters is to ensure that you, the voter, determines where your preferences go, not just your First preference, but also your second, third and fourth and subsequent preferences.” 9. The Greens supported the reForms in the Senate enthusiastically; these are reForms that we have championed in the Commonwealth Parliament since 2004. As modelling predicted, Senate elections since the reform have resulted in a more proportionally elected chamber that Far better represents the will of voters than was achieved in the latter elections under the Group Voting Tickets system. 10. It is a matter of record that the Australian Labor Party supported the abolition of Group Voting Tickets in 2015, through their endorsement oF the Joint Standing Committee’s recommendation, but reversed this position in 2016, by voting against the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016. In arguing against the Bill, every key prediction made by the Australian Labor Party’s Leader oF the Opposition in the Senate about the electoral consequences of the new Senate voting system proved to be wrong.3 11. The Senate’s electoral system has now been reFormed, with the 2016 and 2019 elections having been conducted without Group Voting Tickets, and the influence of ‘preference whisperers’, and parties’ Group Voting Ticket deals have been replaced with a system that respects the will of voters. The Commonwealth has joined New South Wales and South Australia in abolishing Group Voting Tickets From its upper house, and it is time that the Victorian Parliament does the same. 12. To illustrate the distortion oF the will oF voters by the use oF Group Voting Tickets in the Victorian election in 2018, the overall results should First be considered. Some parties are over-represented, and some under-represented, when comparing the results to a purely proportional model: 3 http://theconversation.com/so-how-did-the-new-senate-voting-rules-work-in-practice-63307 3 Table 1: 2018 Victorian Legislative Council Results and Elected MPs compared with their statewide vote Members elected to the MPs that would Legislative have been Members Council as a elected based Party Statewide elected to the proportion of on a purely Legislative Legislative the size of the proportional Party Council % Vote Council chamber model Labor 39.2% 18 45% 16 (15.7) Liberal/Nationals 29.4% 11 27.5% 12 (11.8) Derryn Hinch Justice Party 3.8% 3 7.5% 2 (1.5) Liberal Democrats 2.5% 2 5% 1 (1.0) Animal Justice 2.5% 1 2.5% 1 (1.0) Greens 9.3% 1 2.5% 4 (3.7) Reason 1.4% 1 2.5% 1 (0.5) Shooters, Fishers, Farmers 3.0% 1 2.5% 1 (1.2) Sustainable Australia 0.8% 1 2.5% 0-1 (0.3) Transport Matters 0.6% 1 2.5% 0-1 (0.2) 14. The results For each Region provide some extraordinary examples oF Group Voting Ticket deals catapulting candidates on small primary votes to quota (quota being 16.67% in every case): In Eastern Metropolitan, the lead Transport Matters candidate was elected from a primary vote of 0.62%, or 0.037 of a quota, while The Greens’ lead candidate was not elected From a primary vote of 8.35%, or 0.501 of a quota; a primary vote 13.5 times higher. In Northern Victoria, the lead Liberal Democrats candidate was elected from a primary vote of 3.76%, or 0.226 of a quota, while the Nationals candidate was not elected From a primary vote (after distribution of surplus of First candidate on the ticket) of 14.29%, or 0.857 of a quota; a primary vote 3.8 times higher. In South Eastern Metropolitan, the lead Liberal Democrats candidate was elected from a primary vote of 0.84%, or 0.05 of a quota, while the Liberals’ second candidate was not elected From a primary vote (after distribution of surplus of first candidate on the ticket) of 12.03%, or 0.722 of a quota; a primary vote 14.3 times higher. 4 In Southern Metropolitan, the lead Sustainable Australia candidate was elected from a primary vote of 1.26%, or 0.076 of a quota, while The Greens’ lead candidate was not elected From a primary vote of 12.85%, or 0.771 of a quota; a primary vote 10.2 times higher. 15. In Eastern Metropolitan, the lead Transport Matters candidate’s primary vote of 0.62% was able to be multiplied by preFerences delivered by Group Voting Ticket by a Factor of 26 to achieve the required quota of 16.67%, the result of carefully considered secret deals between parties.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Which Political Parties Are Standing up for Animals?
    Which political parties are standing up for animals? Has a formal animal Supports Independent Supports end to welfare policy? Office of Animal Welfare? live export? Australian Labor Party (ALP) YES YES1 NO Coalition (Liberal Party & National Party) NO2 NO NO The Australian Greens YES YES YES Animal Justice Party (AJP) YES YES YES Australian Sex Party YES YES YES Pirate Party Australia YES YES NO3 Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party YES No policy YES Sustainable Australia YES No policy YES Australian Democrats YES No policy No policy 1Labor recently announced it would establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare if elected, however its structure is still unclear. Benefits for animals would depend on how the policy was executed and whether the Office is independent of the Department of Agriculture in its operations and decision-making.. Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) NO No policy NO4 2The Coalition has no formal animal welfare policy, but since first publication of this table they have announced a plan to ban the sale of new cosmetics tested on animals. Australian Independents Party NO No policy No policy 3Pirate Party Australia policy is to “Enact a package of reforms to transform and improve the live exports industry”, including “Provid[ing] assistance for willing live animal exporters to shift to chilled/frozen meat exports.” Family First NO5 No policy No policy 4Nick Xenophon Team’s policy on live export is ‘It is important that strict controls are placed on live animal exports to ensure animals are treated in accordance with Australian animal welfare standards. However, our preference is to have Democratic Labour Party (DLP) NO No policy No policy Australian processing and the exporting of chilled meat.’ 5Family First’s Senator Bob Day’s position policy on ‘Animal Protection’ supports Senator Chris Back’s Federal ‘ag-gag’ Bill, which could result in fines or imprisonment for animal advocates who publish in-depth evidence of animal cruelty The WikiLeaks Party NO No policy No policy from factory farms.
    [Show full text]
  • Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry Into the Conduct of the 2013 Federal Election
    11 April 2014 Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Parliament House Canberra ACT Please find attached my submission to the Committee's inquiry into the conduct of the 2013 federal election. In my submission I make suggestions for changes to political party registration under the Commonwealth Electoral Act. I also suggest major changes to Senate's electoral system given the evident problems at lasty year's election as well as this year's re-run of the Western Australian Senate election. I also make modest suggestions for changes to formality rules for House of Representatives elections. I have attached a substantial appendix outlining past research on NSW Legislative Council Elections. This includes ballot paper surveys from 1999 and research on exhaustion rates under the new above the line optional preferential voting system used since 2003. I can provide the committee with further research on the NSW Legislative Council system, as well as some ballot paper research I have been carrying out on the 2013 Senate election. I am happy to discuss my submission with the Committee at a hearing. Yours, Antony Green Election Analyst Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2013 Federal Election Antony Green Contents Page 1. Political Party Registration 1 2. Changes to the Senate's Electoral System 7 2.1 Allow Optional Preferential Voting below the line 8 2.2 Above the Line Optional Preferential Voting 9 2.3 Hare Clark 10 2.4 Hybrid Group Ticket Option 10 2.5 Full Preferential Voting Above the Line 11 2.6 Threshold Quotas 11 2.7 Optional Preferential Voting with a Re-calculating Quota 12 2.8 Changes to Formula 12 2.9 My Suggested Solution 13 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Which Political Parties Are Standing up for Animals?
    Which political parties are standing up for animals? Has a formal animal Supports Independent Supports end to welfare policy? Office of Animal Welfare? live export? Australian Labor Party (ALP) YES YES1 NO Coalition (Liberal Party & National Party) NO2 NO NO The Australian Greens YES YES YES Animal Justice Party (AJP) YES YES YES Australian Sex Party YES YES YES Health Australia Party YES YES YES Science Party YES YES YES3 Pirate Party Australia YES YES NO4 Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party YES No policy YES Sustainable Australia YES No policy YES 1Labor recently announced it would establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare if elected, however its struc- ture is still unclear. Benefits for animals would depend on how the policy was executed and whether the Office is independent of the Department of Agriculture in its operations and decision-making. Australian Democrats YES No policy No policy 2The Coalition has no formal animal welfare policy, but since first publication of this table they have announced a plan to ban the sale of new cosmetics tested on animals. Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) NO No policy NO5 3The Science Party's policy states "We believe the heavily documented accounts of animal suffering justify an end to the current system of live export, and necessitate substantive changes if it is to continue." Australian Independents Party NO No policy No policy 4Pirate Party Australia policy is to “Enact a package of reforms to transform and improve the live exports industry”, including “Provid[ing] assistance for willing live animal exporters to shift to chilled/frozen meat exports.” 6 Family First NO No policy No policy 5Nick Xenophon Team’s policy on live export is ‘It is important that strict controls are placed on live animal exports to ensure animals are treated in accordance with Australian animal welfare standards.
    [Show full text]
  • NT Senate Group Voting Tickets
    INDEX Group Ticket(s) Page A – PALMER UNITED PARTY 1 1 B – UNITING AUSTRALIA PARTY 1 2 C – STABLE POPULATION PARTY 3 3-5 D – A.F.N.P.P 1 6 NT E – COUNTRY LIBERALS (NT) 1 7 Senate Group Voting Tickets F – AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY (NORTHERN TERRITORY) BRANCH 1 8 G – SEX PARTY 1 9 H – CITIZENS ELECTORAL COUNCIL 2 10-11 I – SHOOTERS AND FISHERS 1 12 This booklet sets out copies of all group voting tickets which J – RISE UP AUSTRALIA PARTY 1 13 have been lodged in NT for the 2013 Senate Election. K – AUSTRALIAN GREENS 1 14 If you place the single figure 1 in one of the boxes above the L – AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS 1 15 line for the party or group of your choice, you will have voted according to the VOTING TICKET(S) lodged by your party or group as set out in this booklet. Where a party, group or candidate has lodged 2 or 3 VOTING TICKETS, the total number of group ticket votes received by that group or candidate will be distributed evenly in accordance with those voting tickets. © Commonwealth of Australia 2013 Group Voting Ticket – Election of two (2) Senators Group A – PALMER UNITED PARTY – Ticket 1 of 1 Group A – PALMER UNITED PARTY – Ticket 1 of 1 By placing the single figure 1 in the square next to the name of this group, you adopt the ticket as marked below. A B C D E F G H I J K L 1 or or or or or or or or or or or PALMER UNITED UNITING STABLE A.F.N.P.P.
    [Show full text]
  • Page 1 of 11 Inquiry Into and Report on All Aspects
    The Hon Mr Tony Smith MP Chair, Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters PO Box 6021 PARLIAMENT HOUSE ACT 2600 7 April 2014 Dear Mr Smith Inquiry into and report on all aspects of the conduct of the 2013 Federal Election and matters related thereto A healthy political philosophy reflects a balanced view across many social issues. There once was a time whereby parliaments using the Westminster system consisted of progressive local representatives with a broad gamut of individual special interests. Today this type of representative is labelled as ‘single issue’ or ‘independent’ and big parties have become dominate for convenience of getting laws passed. I was a senate candidate for a micro party in the federal election on 7 September 2013. The party I represented was not a front party, not aligned with any existing political party or Member of Parliament. We were a member of the Minor Party Alliance and lodged a Group Voting Ticket. Political parties are responsible for social and national development. Misinformed and misguided choices at the ballot box can produce hazardous consequences for our society and we all then have to live with those consequences, at least for a period of time. Many millions of Australians have never been a member of any political party. The membership numbers for the major parties is said to be around 80,000 Liberal and 35,000 Labor. Yet in elections around 10 million people vote for these two parties. This situation needs to be challenged. Voters over generations have been trained to vote for one of two camps.
    [Show full text]
  • Why the Telstra Agreement Will Haunt the National Party Lessons from the Democrats’ GST Deal
    THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE Why the Telstra agreement will haunt the National Party Lessons from the Democrats’ GST Deal Andrew Macintosh Debra Wilkinson Discussion Paper Number 82 September 2005 ISSN 1322-5421 ii © The Australia Institute. This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes only with the written permission of the Australia Institute. Such use must not be for the purposes of sale or comme rcial exploitation. Subject to the Copyright Act 1968, reproduction, storage in a retrieval system or transmission in any form by any means of any part of the work other than for the purposes above is not permitted without written permission. Requests and inquiries should be directed to the Australia Institute. The Australia Institute iii Table of Contents Tables and Figures v Acknowledgements vi Summary vii 1. Introduction 1 2. The Telstra agreement 3 2.1 Regulatory commitments 3 2.2 Spending commitments 4 3. The flaws in the spending component of the Telstra agreement 7 3.1 Policy flaws 7 3.2 Political flaws 10 4. The GST/MBE deal 12 4.1 Background on the GST/MBE deal 12 4.2 The outcomes of the GST/MBE deal 14 5. The GST/MBE deal and the Telstra agreement 23 5.1 Comparing the deals 23 5.2 Lessons for the Nationals 27 6. Conclusions 29 References 31 Telstra and the GST iv The Australia Institute v Tables and Figures Table 1 Funding commitments made by the Howard Government 12 concerning MBE expenditure initiatives ($million) Table 2 Estimated actual spending on the MBE expenditure programs over 14 their four-year life span (2000/01-2003/04) ($million) Table 3 Spending on the MBE expenditure programs projected in 2005/06 15 federal budget (2004/05-2008/09) ($million) Table 4 Nationals’ Telstra agreement vs.
    [Show full text]
  • Pdf (572.33Kb)
    Dear Mr McCusker, Please find attached Enhancing Democracy in Western Australia, my submission to the review of the Western Australian Legislative Council electoral system. I am happy for it to be made public. Yours sincerely, Chris Curtis Enhancing Democracy in Western Australia Chris Curtis May 2021 The manufactured hysteria that greeted Ricky Muir’s election to the Senate and that ultimately led to the Turnbull government’s rigging the Senate voting system to favour the Greens over the micro-parties is getting an encore performance with the election of Wilson Tucker in Western Australia, despite the unremarked-upon election in both jurisdictions of many more candidates of major parties from even lower primary votes and with the added twist that most members of the panel established to investigate the matter have already endorsed, even promoted, the hysteria (https://insidestory.org.au/an-affront-to-anyone-who- believes-in-democracy/). While it is clear from this fact that submissions in support of logic and democracy have already been ruled out of consideration, it is worthwhile putting them on the public record for future historians to refer to and so that more reasonable politicians can revisit the issue if the hysteria dies down. Enhancing Democracy in Western Australia 2 Contents Purpose - - - - - - - - - - 3 Summary - - - - - - - - - - 3 1. Principles - - - - - - - - - - 5 2. The Single Transferable Vote - - - - - - - 6 3. The Irrational Complaints - - - - - - - 11 4. Party Preferences - - - - - - - - - 15 5. Imposing a Party List System - - - - - - - 17 6. The Value of Group Voting Tickets - - - - - - 18 7. The Real Issue and the Solution - - - - - - - 20 8. Personal How-to-Vote Website - - - - - - - 22 9.
    [Show full text]
  • Finding Ways to Improve Australia's Food Security Situation
    Agriculture 2015, 5, 286-312; doi:10.3390/agriculture5020286 OPEN ACCESS agriculture ISSN 2077-0472 www.mdpi.com/journal/agriculture Discussion Finding Ways to Improve Australia’s Food Security Situation Quentin Farmar-Bowers 17 The Grange, East Malvern, Victoria 3145, Australia; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.:+61-432-717-084 Academic Editor: Stephen J. Herbert Received: 27 February 2015 / Accepted: 27 April 2015 / Published: 27 May 2015 Abstract: Although Australia exports more than half of its agricultural production, there are food security problems as the current food supply systems in Australia fail to deliver healthy diets to all Australians and fail to protect the natural resources on which they depend. In addition, the food systems create “collateral damage” to the natural environment including biodiversity loss. In coming decades, Australia’s food supply systems will be increasingly challenged by resource price inflation and falling yields due to climate change. Government and business are aiming to increase production and agricultural exports. This will increase pressure on agricultural resources and exacerbate “collateral” damage to the environment. The Australian public has an ongoing interest in issues associated with the food systems including the environment, education, health and sustainability. A health-giving diet is essential for a full life and over a life-time people need food security. Currently economy development and social planning is undertaken through the pragmatic application of a set of ideas, such as relying on markets and deregulation, collectively referred to as neoliberalism. This paper contends that the neoliberal approach is not solving the current and developing problems in food security and agriculture more generally and suggests that more emphasis should be given to alternatives approaches.
    [Show full text]
  • THE AUSTRALIAN GREENS Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry Into the 2013 Federal Election
    THE AUSTRALIAN GREENS Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry into the 2013 Federal Election INTRODUCTION Most of the attention for this inquiry has been centred on reforming the election of the Senate. This submission will address that, but the Australian Greens believe that there are broader issues with our electoral system that need addressing. A key policy concern of the Greens is the reform of the electoral system to increase fairness, equity, transparency and accountability. This submission includes a number of recommendations in relation to the recent federal election which address these concerns. 1. ELECTION FUNDING 1.1 Public Funding for elections The Greens believe that undue influence and problems of corruption arise from unchecked private funding of election campaigns. To that end, the Greens call for the adoption of electoral funding similar to the pre‐ 2011 Canadian system with a ban on corporate donations, a cap on individual donations and public funding for political parties which includes party administration and broadcasting time in federal elections. We maintain our view that the current laws on political donations are unfair and counterproductive to the democratic process and believe that the pre‐2011 Canadian system of electoral funding – that is primarily publicly funded elections, caps on campaign expenditure (including by third parties), capped individual donations and a ban on corporate donations ‐ is the best and more democratically fair approach. The Greens also support a rigorous regime for disclosure of electoral funding, believing that this is essential to ensure accountability and transparency in the system. The current system, which has a very high disclosure threshold currently set at $12 400, permits substantial areas of funding to avoid proper scrutiny through the disclosure requirements of the Electoral Act.
    [Show full text]
  • The Naval Contribution to National Security and Prosperity
    The Naval Contribution to National Security and Prosperity Proceedings of the Royal Australian Navy Sea Power Conference 2012 © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2013 This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, and with the standard source credit included, no part may be reproduced without written permission. Inquiries should be address to the Director, Sea Power Centre - Australia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The view expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Australian Government, the Department of Defence and the Royal Australian Navy. The Commonwealth of Australia will not be legally responsible in contract, tort or otherwise for any statement made in this publication. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- National Library of Australia - Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Author: Forbes, Andrew, 1962 - Title: The Naval Contribution to National Security and Prosperity: Proceedings of the Royal Australian Navy Conference 2012 ISBN: 978 0 642 29769 3 Subjects: Australia, Royal Australian Navy The Naval Contribution to National Security and Prosperity Proceedings of the Royal Australian Navy Sea Power Conference 2012 Edited by Andrew Forbes Sea Power Centre – Australia -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    [Show full text]
  • Please Find Attached My Submission to the Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform
    Please find attached my submission to the Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform. William Bowe Submission to Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform Firstly, I would like to add my support to the objective of achieving greater electoral equality through reform to the group voting ticket system and rural malapportionment for the Legislative Council, which are inconsistent with the principle that representative democracy should reflect the purposely expressed will of voters on an equal basis. However, since these arguments will be made more than adequately by others, the intention of my submission is to provide some analysis of the likely electoral impact of reforms along the lines of those introduced for the Senate in 2016. This will be done through comparison of the two federal elections held since these reforms were introduced, namely the double dissolution election of 2016 and half-Senate election of 2019, and the last half- Senate election held under the group voting ticket system in 2013. At the end of this submission are two tables, identified as Table 1 and Table 2, which illustrate how preferences flowed from the early to the final stages of the Senate election counts in Western Australia in 2013 and Tasmania in 2019. I have been unable to complete an equivalent analysis for Western Australia in 2019 before the deadline for submissions, but can provide one at a later time. While the former result was voided due to the loss of 1,375 ballot papers during a recount, it remains a better illustration of the effect of the group voting ticket system than the special election that followed in April 2014, since the provisional election of Wayne Dropulich of the Australian Sports Party from 0.23% of the vote on the earlier occasion is a notable example of the potential for group voting tickets to produce perverse results.
    [Show full text]
  • Submission Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform
    Submission Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform June 2021 About WALGA The Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA or ‘the Association’) is the peak organisation for Local Government in Western Australia. The Association is an independent, membership-based group representing and supporting the work and interests of 137 mainland Local Governments in Western Australia, plus the Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The Association provides an essential voice for more than 1,200 Elected Members, more than 22,000 Local Government employees, and the 2.6 million constituents that they serve and represent. The Association also provides professional advice and offers services that provide financial benefits to Local Governments. Contacts Nick Sloan Chief Executive Officer Tony Brown Executive Manager Governance and Organisational Services Tim Lane Manager Strategy and Association Governance WALGA ONE70, LV1, 170 Railway Parade, West Leederville, WA, 6007 PO Box 1544, West Perth, WA, 6872 (p) (08) 9213 2000 | (e) [email protected] www.walga.asn.au 2 Contents About WALGA ................................................................................................................... 2 Contacts .......................................................................................................................... 2 Contents ............................................................................................................................ 3 Background ......................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]