DOCSLIB.ORG

Students Parliament Asy & Ccl 3

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Students Parliament Asy & Ccl 3 OPENING OF STUDENTS PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY MORNING SESSION The ACTING SPEAKER (Ms Janice Munt) took the chair at 10.00 a.m. and read the prayer. The ACTING SPEAKER — Welcome to the Parliament today. I hope you have a great experience. I will try to do my best. This is actsually my first time as Acting Speaker, so I am going to make more mistakes than you are. My usual seat — the one that I have to sit in — is right up there, and it is currently occupied by my daughter, Jenny, who is going to be the mini member for Mordialloc today while I am the Acting Speaker. She is not allowed to speak, however. The first school will be Kilbreda College. TOPIC 1 — Compulsory voting is undemocratic Presenting school — Kilbreda College Challenging school — Glen Waverley Secondary College Miss STEED — We, at Kilbreda College, believe that compulsory voting is undemocratic. About 20 countries in the world have some form of compulsory voting, which means people have to register to vote and go to the polling booth to vote on election day. In Australia it has been compulsory to vote since 1924. Australians who do not vote can be fined if they do not have a valid reason, such as being ill. There is a large expense involved in chasing up people who have not voted to find out whether they have a valid excuse. Australia is one of a few democratic countries in the world that has compulsory voting. A democracy means that people have freedom of choice. It is undemocratic to force people to vote because they should have the freedom of choice to decide not to vote. It is only in non-democratic countries governed by dictators that people are compelled to vote. Compulsory voting gives an unfair advantage to the major parties because they get lots of votes from loyal supporters election after election without having to spend any time or money trying to convince them to do so. Minor parties or independents have a much more difficult job because their resources are limited. If voting were not compulsory the minor parties or independents would have a much better chance of winning. An informal vote is a vote that does not count. Compulsory voting increases the percentage of informal votes. Because people are being forced to vote, a lot of people resent it, and they deliberately have an informal vote. In the 2001 election there were 580 362 informal votes, which made up 4.8 per cent of the total votes. In the electorate of Fowler, New South Wales, the informal vote rate was 12.7 per cent! For similar reasons a lot of people have a donkey vote, which means they just number the ballot paper from top to bottom without even thinking about who the candidates are. If the result was close, someone could get elected with some donkey votes and the person who deserved to win would lose. Compulsory voting was introduced in 1924 by a small group of parliamentarians concerned about political education amongst voters. Compulsory voting has not contributed to serious political education among voters; it may have disencouraged it. This means that people will be choosing candidates when they do not really know what the policies are. If people only had to vote if they wanted to, they would be more likely to inform themselves about the policies. Political knowledge remains at a very low level in Australia. A report on political education by a Senate committee commented on a high level of ignorance in the Australian population about basic aspects of politics and government. To force a person to vote does not increase the person’s awareness or fulfil a civic duty — it almost does the reverse. The compulsion to vote by an apathetic, reluctant or even hostile voter may produce an ill-considered and irresponsible vote. With many elections involving winning margins of 2 to 3 per cent or less, it is unfair that a group of uninterested people have determined the government — — 3 September 2003 Students Parliament 1 The ACTING SPEAKER — Honourable member, your time has expired. I invite honourable members from Glen Waverley Secondary College to ask their questions. Mr RAMAKRISHNA — When you claim that it is only in non-democratic countries governed by dictators that people are compelled to vote, how do you explain Australia, our lifestyle and our government? Are you implying that we live under dictatorship? The ACTING SPEAKER — Any honourable member from Kilbreda College may respond to that question. No response to that question? I thought it was pretty tricky too. We will ask another honourable member from Glen Waverley College to ask another question. Mr YU — Considering that voting has been compulsory in Australia since 1924, with alternatives provided, being postal or absentee voting, what is so onerous about coming out once every three or four years to express your democratic right? Miss GRAHAM — Everybody should have their right to vote in any way they want, even if it is only every couple of years. They should have the freedom to have their choices and to decide which government, which party or which group should run the country. Miss MELKI-WEGNER — Considering that the right to vote was fought hard for by female suffragettes, should it not be enshrined and appreciated, not just cast aside as an onerous chore? Miss BARON — People may not already know, as they may not be able to decide which major party, and therefore the decision they make could be completely wrong. Many people could be wrong. Miss JUHEJA — Do you not you think that compulsory voting is quite effective in making politicians work harder, as they have a wider range of community concerns to address? Miss RUSCIANO — Everybody has a right to vote. Why would that make everybody work harder, when they are only trying to make the public vote for them? The public might not want to vote for them; they might just do a donkey vote. The ACTING SPEAKER — We will now have 3 minutes of questions from all honourable members in the whole chamber. Miss SIOMOS — I have a question relating to the education of students throughout Australia concerning politics. You have said that voting should not be compulsory because people have become ignorant and do not know enough about the system. Do you think it would be a good idea to maybe educate Australia more on how our political system actually works? Miss GRAHAM — If they do not want to vote why should we force them to vote. Everybody has their own opinion and choices and they should feel free to do whatever they like. People should be educated, but it depends how they feel inside. Mr HAMMER — It is my belief that people have the right to cast an informal vote. Please clarify this for me. Mr RAMAKRISHNA — As a democratic country does not the government represent the entire population. If only 10 per cent of the people vote who is the government representing? After all, it is the citizens duty to vote, but it is their choice as to who for. Miss BARON — Why do they have to vote. As I said before, the vote could lead to the wrong party being elected. Miss KEMP — If we make voting compulsory, it would lose its formality. Those who oppose voting may find it inconvenient. 3 September 2003 Students Parliament 2 TOPIC 2 — The MCG is the only place to hold the AFL Grand Final. Presenting school — Parkdale Secondary College Challenging school — Brauer College Miss HOLLOW — The Melbourne Cricket Ground is our nation’s most famous sporting stadium. It has a capacity to accommodate the largest crowd, in the greatest comfort, of any stadium in the country. Since the Victorian Football League staged the first grand final on the MCG in 1902, when Collingwood defeated Essendon, this wonderful stadium has been the home of Australian football and the deeds of the game’s legendary players are woven into the history of the MCG. The notion that the MCG is the only place to hold the AFL Grand Final is surely self-evident. To even think of playing the grand final elsewhere is not only ludicrous, but crass stupidity! The MCG’s status as a sporting venue is unchallenged. The vast grandstands offer superb viewing and the atmosphere in this magnificent stadium on grand final day stirs the hearts of spectators, uniting their excitement with a passion only matched by the first Tuesday in November. But the MCG is more than just a convenient stage. It is part of the fabric of our culture. Ever since Wills introduced football to Victorians in the 1850s, the ‘park that grew’, as the MCG is affectionately known, has become a national treasure. The world knows the MCG as the venue of the 1956 Olympic Games. Australians know it simply as ‘the G’, the inspiration of champions. There is a connectedness between the Australian sports fan and ‘the G’ especially for the AFL fan. Footy fans feel as though it is their territory — their backyard. This is not just a Victorian sentiment. Footy fans travel from all over the country to experience ‘the G’. It is like an act of faith, and on grand final day it is certainly a pilgrimage. It is where the fans’ heroes have triumphed, and where their dreams of future glory lie. Since the VFL became the AFL and teams from interstate joined the competition, there has been a simmering suggestion that a grand final may one day be held elsewhere.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Compulsory Voting in Australian National Elections
    Parliament of Australia Department of Parliamentary Services Parliamentary Library RESEARCH BRIEF Information analysis and advice for the Parliament 31 October 2005, no. 6, 2005–06, ISSN 1832-2883 Compulsory voting in Australian national elections Compulsory voting has been part of Australia’s national elections since 1924. Renewed Liberal Party interest and a recommendation by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters that voluntary and compulsory voting be the subject of future investigation, suggest that this may well be an important issue at the next election. This research brief refers to the origins of compulsory voting in Australia, describes its use in Commonwealth elections, outlines the arguments for and against compulsion, discusses the political impact of compulsory voting and refers to suggested reforms. Scott Bennett Politics and Public Administration Section Contents Executive summary ................................................... 3 Introduction ........................................................ 4 The emergence of compulsory voting in Australia ............................. 5 Compulsory voting elsewhere ........................................... 8 Administration of compulsory voting in Australian national elections ............... 8 To retain or reject compulsory voting? ..................................... 9 Opposition to compulsory voting ......................................... 9 Support for compulsory voting .......................................... 11 The political impact of compulsory voting
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Exhausted Votes
    Committee Secretary Timothy McCarthy Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Dear committee, I am a software engineer living in Melbourne. Over the last few months, I have developed a tool for analysing Senate ballot papers, using raw data made available by the AEC on their website. In this submission, I will present some of my results in the hope that they might be of use to the committee, particularly in evaluating the success of changes to the recent changes to the Electoral Act. The key results are as follows: • Of the 1,042,132 exhausted votes, 917,379 (88%) were from ballots whose first preference was for a minor party or independent candidate. • 25% of the total primary vote for minor parties exhausted, compared to just 1.22% for major parties. • Nationally, donkey votes made up only 0.15% of the vote. The Division of Lingiari had an unusually high number of donkey votes (2.32%), mainly from the remote mobile teams in that division. • Despite the changes to above-the-line voting, 290,758 ballots still marked a single '1' above the line. • 1,046,837 ballots (7.56% of formal ballots) were saved from informality by savings provi- sions in the Act. 1 Exhausted votes Changes in the Electoral Act prior to the election introduced optional preferential voting both above and below the line. These changes introduced the possibility of ballots exhausting, something that was exceedingly rare under the previous rules. At the 2016 Federal election, there were just over 1 million exhausted votes, about 7.5% of the total.
    [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]
  • The Caretaker Election
    26. The Results and the Pendulum Malcolm Mackerras The two most interesting features of the 2010 election were that it was close and it was an early election. Since early elections are two-a-penny in our system, I shall deal with the closeness of the election first. The early nature of the election does, however, deserve consideration because it was early on two counts. These are considered below. Of our 43 general elections so far, this was the only one both to be close and to be an early election. Table 26.1 Months of General Elections for the Australian House of Representatives, 1901–2010 Month Number Years March 5 1901,1983, 1990, 1993, 1996 April 2 1910, 1951 May 4 1913, 1917, 1954, 1974 July 1 1987 August 2 1943, 2010 September 4 1914, 1934, 1940, 1946 October 6 1929, 1937, 1969, 1980, 1998, 2004 November 7 1925, 1928, 1958, 1963, 1966, 2001, 2007 December 12 1903, 1906, 1919, 1922, 1931, 1949, 1955, 1961, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1984 Total 43 The Close Election In the immediate aftermath of polling day, several commentators described this as the closest election in Australian federal history. While I can see why people would say that, I describe it differently. As far as I am concerned, there have been 43 general elections for our House of Representatives of which four can reasonably be described as having been close. They are the House of Representatives plus half-Senate elections held on 31 May 1913, 21 September 1940, 9 December 1961 and 21 August 2010.
    [Show full text]
  • Optional Preferential Voting for the Australian Senate
    ELECTORAL REGULATION RESEARCH NETWORK/DEMOCRATIC AUDIT OF AUSTRALIA JOINT WORKING PAPER SERIES OPTIONAL PREFERENTIAL VOTING FOR THE AUSTRALIAN SENATE Michael Maley (Associate, Centre For Democratic Institutions, Australian National University) WORKING PAPER NO. 16 (NOVEMBER 2013) 1 Introduction This paper explores the possible use of optional preferential voting (OPV) as a way of dealing with concerns which have been crystallised at the 2013 Australian federal election about the operation of some aspects of the Senate electoral system. Its main emphasis is on the extent to which full preferential voting no longer enables voters to express their preferences truthfully, and the role which OPV could play in correcting this.1 In a number of respects, the election was remarkable. • The 40 vacancies were contested by a record number of candidates, 529. • The percentage of votes polled by parties already represented in the Parliament dropped significantly from 2010. • In five out of the six States, a candidate was elected from a party which had never previously been represented in the federal Parliament. • For the first time ever, the seats in one State, South Australia, were divided between five different parties. • In Victoria, a minor party candidate was elected after having polled only 0.5% of the first preference votes cast in the State. • In Western Australia, a partial recount of ballot papers was ordered, and in the aftermath of its conduct it was revealed by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) that some 1,375 ballot papers “all of which had been verified during the initial WA Senate count … could not be located, rechecked or verified in the recount process”.
    [Show full text]
  • Voting in AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIA Contents
    Voting IN AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIA Contents Your vote, your voice 1 Government in Australia: a brief history 2 The federal Parliament 5 Three levels of government in Australia 8 Federal elections 9 Electorates 10 Getting ready to vote 12 Election day 13 Completing a ballot paper 14 Election results 16 Changing the Australian Constitution 20 Active citizenship 22 Your vote, your voice In Australia, citizens have the right and responsibility to choose their representatives in the federal Parliament by voting at elections. The representatives elected to federal Parliament make decisions that affect many aspects of Australian life including tax, marriage, the environment, trade and immigration. This publication explains how Australia’s electoral system works. It will help you understand Australia’s system of government, and the important role you play in it. This information is provided by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), an independent statutory authority. The AEC provides Australians with an independent electoral service and educational resources to assist citizens to understand and participate in the electoral process. 1 Government in Australia: a brief history For tens of thousands of years, the heart of governance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was in their culture. While traditional systems of laws, customs, rules and codes of conduct have changed over time, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to share many common cultural values and traditions to organise themselves and connect with each other. Despite their great diversity, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities value connection to ‘Country’. This includes spirituality, ceremony, art and dance, family connections, kin relationships, mutual responsibility, sharing resources, respecting law and the authority of elders, and, in particular, the role of Traditional Owners in making decisions.
    [Show full text]
  • LARGEST REMAINDER (Not Quite Quota Notes) No
    Occasional newsletter of Electoral Reform Australia LARGEST REMAINDER (Not quite Quota Notes) No. 26 July 2015 In this issue count right through to the end. o In this issue...............................................1 Gaming of the system is rife. Unprincipled o President’s Report to the Annual General backroom deals are made between parties Meeting of Electoral Reform Australia....1 who should ostensibly be on opposite ends of o Address by Guest speaker........................2 the political spectrum. Excessive and o Is the Robson Rotation a Turn too Far? ...2 pointless formality requirements force voters into supporting party tickets despite knowing o Queensland Simulation ............................6 that such deals may have been arranged. o Future Meetings .......................................7 One would think that as electoral results after President’s Report to the Annual electoral results, right across this country, General Meeting of Electoral show the failure of the current system, reform would be easy. But no! The latest ridiculous Reform Australia idea, from the Federal Joint Standing In Australia, there is general acceptance that Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM), is proportional representation is worthwhile, at to impose on the Senate the same system that least for upper houses and local government, has just failed in the latest NSW Legislative and we don’t normally have to debate the Council election, as indeed it did in previous merits of PR versus such ridiculous voting elections. systems as first past the post. The JSCEM proposal retains above-the-line Our task is much more subtle and therefore voting, retains compulsory preferences below probably more difficult. We have to persuade the line, and hopes that voters will give politicians and most of the self-styled preferences to different groups in the above- psephologists that they are wrong: that all the the-line boxes.
    [Show full text]
  • The ACT Election 2016: Back to the Future?
    The ACT election 2016: back to the future? Terry Giesecke 17 February 2017 DOI: 10.4225/50/58a623512b6e6 Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this paper are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of APO. Copyright/Creative commons license: Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 3.0 (CC BY-NC 3.0 AU) 12 pages Overview This resource is a summary of the outcome of the ACT election, held in October 2016. It was an unusual election, in that it saw little movement in party support from the previous election in 2012 and no fringe parties or candidates were elected. The main issues were the construction of a tramline, the implementation of tax reform, the demolition of over one thousand houses to resolve asbestos contamination and allegations of corruption. The ACT Election 2016: Back to the future? The ACT election on October 15 was more of a 1950s or 1960s election. In that era little movement occurred from one election to the next. In 1967 political scientist Don Aitkin wrote, “Most Australians have a basic commitment to one or other of the major parties, and very few change their mind from one election to the other”1. Not so today. In the last few years Australia has experienced three one term State/Territory Governments, huge swings from election to election and the rapid rise and fall of new parties. So why was the ACT different? The ACT election saw a swing of 0.5 per cent against the governing ALP and their partner the Greens and a 2.2 per cent swing against the opposition Liberals.
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Electoral Systems — How Well Do They Serve Political Equality?
    Australian Electoral Systems — How Well Do They Serve Political Equality? Prepared by Graeme Orr Law Faculty Griffith University, Brisbane for the Democratic Audit of Australia Political Science Program Research School of Social Sciences The Australian National University Report No. 2 The Democratic Audit of Australia—Testing the Strength of Australian Democracy An immigrant society PAGE ii The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and From 2002 to 2004 the Political Science Program in the Australian National PAGE iii should not be taken to represent the views of either the University’s Research School of Social Sciences is conducting an audit to assess Democratic Audit of Australia or The Australian National University Australia’s strengths and weaknesses as a democracy. © The Australian National University 2004 The Audit has three specific aims: ISBN paperback 0-9751925-0-7, online 0-9751925-1-5 (1) Contributing to Methodology: To make a major methodological Cover: Polling day, 10 November 2001, in Burnside, South Australia. contribution to the assessment of democracy—particularly through the Thanks to the Australian Electoral Commission for this image. study of federalism and through incorporating disagreements about National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data: ‘democracy’ into the research design; Orr, Graeme. (2) Benchmarking: To provide benchmarks for monitoring and international Australian electoral systems, how well do they serve political equality? comparisons—our data can be used, for example, to track the progress of Bibliography. government reforms as well as to compare Australia with other countries; ISBN 0 9751925 0 7 (3) Promoting Debate: To promote public debate over democratic issues and ISBN 0 9751925 1 5 over how Australia’s democratic arrangements might be improved.
    [Show full text]
  • Todd Farrell Thesis
    The Australian Greens: Realignment Revisited in Australia Todd Farrell Submitted in fulfilment for the requirements of the Doctorate of Philosophy Swinburne University of Technology Faculty of Health, Arts and Design School of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities 2020 ii I declare that this thesis does not incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree in any university or another educational institution and to the best of my knowledge and belief it does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text. iii ABSTRACT Scholars have traditionally characterised Australian politics as a stable two-party system that features high levels of partisan identity, robust democratic features and strong electoral institutions (Aitkin 1982; McAllister 2011). However, this characterisation masks substantial recent changes within the Australian party system. Growing dissatisfaction with major parties and shifting political values have altered the partisan contest, especially in the proportionally- represented Senate. This thesis re-examines partisan realignment as an explanation for party system change in Australia. It draws on realignment theory to argue that the emergence and sustained success of the Greens represents a fundamental shift in the Australian party system. Drawing from Australian and international studies on realignment and party system reform, the thesis combines an historical institutionalist analysis of the Australian party system with multiple empirical measurements of Greens partisan and voter support. The historical institutionalist approach demonstrates how the combination of subnational voting mechanisms, distinctly postmaterialist social issues, federal electoral strategy and a weakened Labor party have driven a realignment on the centre-left of Australian politics substantial enough to transform the Senate party system.
    [Show full text]
  • HISTORY NOW 6 Book Answers
    1300s 1400s 1500s 1600s 1700s 1800s 1900s 2000s Unit 1 How People Are Governed The First Governments 1 b 2 Tribes roamed the land looking for food and shelter. 3 Tribes developed ways of making decisions about what the rules should be, who should do what job, and how the group should be organised. 4 a True b False c True d False 5 A parliament is an assembly of elected representatives who make laws for a state or nation. 6 The upper house reviews the decisions made by the lower house. 7 b 8 The Althing is the world’s oldest existing parliament, formed in Iceland in 930 CE. 9 Hands on – for example: It is a country that is governed exclusively by their royal family. 10 Hands on – for example: A ruler who, having obtained power over a country by force, does not allow ordinary people to have a say in how the country is run. 11 Hands on – for example: The older members may be the wisest of the group due to experience and the strongest members may have been leaders in hunting and survival which would have helped the tribe. Australian Parliaments 1 Nine (9) 2 Federal or Commonwealth Parliament, six state parliaments and two territory parliaments 3 a 4 D, B, A, C 5 Queensland’s upper house was abolished in 1922. 6 Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory 7 a false b can’t tell c false 8 Victoria’s Parliament House, Old Parliament House and Parliament House Canberra have all served as Australia’s Parliament House.
    [Show full text]
  • BRIEFING BOOK KEY ISSUES for the 45TH PARLIAMENT © Commonwealth of Australia 2016
    BRIEFING BOOK KEY ISSUES FOR THE 45TH PARLIAMENT © Commonwealth of Australia 2016 Creative Commons With the exception of the Commonwealth Inquiries regarding the licence and any Coat of Arms, and to the extent that use of the publication are welcome copyright subsists in a third party, this to [email protected]. publication, its logo and front page design are licensed under a Creative This work has been prepared to support Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial‑ the work of the Australian Parliament NoDerivs 3.0 Australia licence. using information available at the time of production. The views expressed In essence, you are free to copy and do not reflect an official position of communicate this work in its current form for the Parliamentary Library, nor do they all non‑commercial purposes, as long as you constitute professional legal opinion. attribute the work to the author and abide by the other licence terms. The work cannot be Feedback is welcome and may be provided adapted or modified in any way. Content from to: [email protected]. Any this publication should be attributed in the concerns or complaints should be directed following way: Author(s), Title of publication, to the Parliamentary Librarian. Parliamentary Series Name and No, Publisher, Date. Library staff are available to discuss the contents of publications with Senators and To the extent that copyright subsists Members and their staff. To access this in third party quotes it remains with service, clients may contact the author or the original owner and permission may the Library‘s Central Entry Point for referral.
    [Show full text]