It is frustrating living in a very safe seat. I have been living in the Electorate of Mayo, held by Alexander Downer, since its inception in 1984.
My vote has never been for the Liberals but it is a foregone conclusion here that the Liberals will win. Living in a safe seat also means that you missout on all the goodies offered to the marginals. There has got to be a better way to manage an electoral system. And there is!
I have voted Democrat and Green in the lower house, knowing that my vote had no possibility of having an effect. It
seems to me to be very undemocratic that perhaps 8% of the country can
vote for a minor party and yet there will not be one seat held by that
party in parliament. If we had proportional representation then everyone’s in every electorate will count.
In
systems like the one in Germany, one votes for the local member on one
ballot and on another for the party one wants to be in power in the
lower house. The party vote determines the make up of the lower house.
Simply put, if 33% of the population votes Liberal on the party ballot
then 33% percent of the seats in parliament will be Liberal. If 6% votes Green then 6%of the seats will be Green.
The parliament is made up of local members and “list” members. List
members do not represent any particular area but are chosen by the
party in a simlar way to how the senate lists work here. So the
parliament is made up of the local reps plus a “top up” from the
“lists” to reflect the vote for the party. This has the great added
advantage that local reps do not have to double as Ministers and
Ministers do not have to worry about a local electorate.
I wonder how much time Downer has to devote to Mayo or Howard to Benelong in an ordinary week. The
system makes it possible to vote for a good local member but to express
your wish that a different party hold sway in the parliament.
Most importantly it means that everyone’s vote counts equally, no matter where one lives. The whole concept of a marginal seat goes out the window. It would mean an end to that kind of pork-barrelling. Politicians would have to pay equal attention to every electorate in the country. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?
One objection could be that this seems to mean more politicians. Perhaps not; it could mean that we reduce the number of seats, in both houses, to make room for the list members.
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