Hi everyone,
This was in today's Sydney Morning Herald. I don't know if this idea is
catching, but it must be in the major parties in NSW. Is an election on
0.2% of the primary vote undemocratic? There's no doubt that front
parties were funnelling votes, in a very clever use of the electoral
system. The Gay and Lesian Party, Animal Rights (or Liberation?) Party
and others were funnelling preferences back to the Outdoor Recreation
Party - who support 4WDs and motorbikes in national parks. I think with
a ballot paper that was one metre by two metres, there will be pressure
to "reform" the upper house electoral system somehow...
On a better note, Lee Rhiannon from the Greens got elected, which I
think is a very good thing.
Alister
----------------------
Monday, April 26, 1999
Upper House must go: Egan
By MARK ROBINSON
The State Treasurer, Mr Egan, last night promised to renew his campaign
to abolish the Legislative Council after the final result showed almost
one third of its members will be minor party and Independent MPs.
Seven crossbench MPs were elected, bringing to a record 13 the number in
the 42-member Upper House.
The biggest surprise when the distribution of preferences finished on
Saturday was the election of an Outdoor Recreation Party candidate, Mr
Malcolm Jones, who recorded only 7,264 primary votes - 0.2 per cent of
the State-wide total.
Mr Egan, the Government's leader in the Upper House, said it was a
"travesty of democracy" that MPs could be elected with less than 1per
cent of the vote.
"An electoral system that throws up a result like this is bonkers," he said.
A long-term campaigner for the abolition of the Upper House, Mr Egan
said it was time to move again for it to be shut down.
"I still have to convince my own colleagues ... but I am increasingly
confident that I can give the game away by abolishing the Upper House,"
he said.
The make-up of the new Council is being viewed as favourable to Labor,
which has 16 seats and will require the support of six of the crossbench
MPs to pass legislation.
The newly elected group includes a second Green MP, Ms Lee Rhiannon,
Unity's Mr Peter Wong and Lismore lawyer Mr Peter Breen from the Reform
the Legal System party, all of whom are considered likely supporters of
social justice and environmental reforms.
Labor backbenchers last night predicted that the Carr Government would
be able to push through some of the reforms it did not tackle in its
first term, including recognising the rights of couples in same-sex
relationships and reducing penalties for possession of soft drugs.
But Mr Egan rejected any suggestion that Labor would have an easier time
getting through its legislative program than in the last Parliament,
when it was confronted with nine crossbench MPs.
"It is essentially a lucky dip," the Treasurer said.
Mr Egan vowed that the Government would not engage in the "horse trade"
with the minor party MPs that took place over the past four years.
The final result in the Upper House came after a month spent counting
the votes given to a record 264 candidates.
An elaborate series of preference deals pushed Mr Jones over the line,
along with Mr Breen, who recorded 35,000 primary votes, or around 1 per
cent, of the total.
The two will sit on the cross benches with a group that represents the
full political spectrum, from the Rev Fred Nile and One Nation's Mr
David Oldfield to the Australian Democrats' Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans.
After its heavy defeat in the Lower House, the Coalition's reduced vote
in the Upper House has seen its numbers cut to 13, the same as the cross bench.
Liberal Upper House leader Mr Michael Gallacher last night predicted it
would be difficult for the Coalition to block government legislation and
called on the minor party MPs not to be "stooges" for Labor.
"The Government obviously has all the goodies and we have an empty
showbag, so it depends how serious they are," he said.
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