Australia’s major political parties have taken significant steps to inoculate themselves before any new federal election contest, reaching consensus on changes to the voting system which will make life difficult for micro-party candidates.
The joint standing committee on electoral matters has recommended introducing optional preferential voting in the Senate, and the abolition of group voting tickets.
It has also recommended new registration requirements forcing parties to have a minimum of 1,500 unique members, up from the current requirement of 500.
The changes – the most substantial overhaul of the Senate voting system since the 1980s, and, on some analyses, since 1949 – are supported by the Coalition, Labor and the Greens, but unsurprisingly have sparked a backlash from the incoming crossbench.
They are designed to stop the practice of preference harvesting which has delivered micro-parties substantial Senate representation despite candidates attracting less than 1% of the primary vote.
“The gaming of the voting system by many micro-parties created a lottery, where, provided the parties stuck together in preferencing each other, some of whom have polar opposite policies and philosophies, the likelihood of one succeeding was maximised,” the report argues. “While such gaming of the system is legal, it has nonetheless distorted the will of voters, made Senate voting convoluted and confusing, and corroded the integrity of our electoral system.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/09/major-political-parties-agree-on-voting-changes-targeti...
in other words locking the aus voter into the old labor liberal merry go round
