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Proportional
Representation Society of Australia Inc. |
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Tel +61429176725 |
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PR-STV analyses of some Australian parliamentary elections
Click
on a blue hyperlink of interest, or to see a likely poll
outcome under Hare-Clark proportional
representation.
Lower Houses |
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House
of Representatives 1996-2025 |
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SOUTH AUSTRALIA |
2018 |
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1983*** |
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2002* |
* In 2003
Victoria's 150-year old |
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1823** |
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Australian
Electoral Commission Web site |
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By
contrast with New South Wales, all 30 MLCs in Victoria were
directly elected from 1855, the date on which
Victoria gained a Legislative Assembly (all 60 of
that Assembly's members were directly
elected), by force of The Constitution Act
1855, which formed Schedule 1 of the Imperial
Act 18 & 19 Vict.
c. 55. The
foregone conclusions that were the case with
elections in the many seats that are usually "safe"
for a particular party that is strong in a given
electorate in a single-vacancy system meant that,
for the Legislative Council, it took until 1961
(1958 in the case of the Legislative Assembly)
before Victoria had elections at which all seats
were contested. All seats in both houses have been
contested since 1961, as a matter of policy by the
major parties, even though many have still been
foregone conclusions for a single party, as the
reason for the lack of contest for Upper House seats
was not removed until proportional representation
was introduced for its polls. Following
the introduction in 2003 of that PR-STV system, all
electoral regions are sure to be contested in
future, as there will be a genuine contest in each.
Until the proclamation on
8th April 2003 in Special Government Gazette S57
of the Royal Assent to the Constitution
(Parliamentary Reform) Act 2003, which altered
the Constitution
Act 1975 to require use of PR
for the Upper House, Victoria, unlike NSW, had never
had any provision for a referendum on constitutional
or electoral matters, let alone for other
legislation where there is a disagreement between
the two Houses. The first Legislative Council of
Victoria was created by the Australian
Colonies Government Act 1850. A
retrograde aspect of the way PR was instituted for The Constitution Act 1855
of * * * * * * * The
history and foundation of that Act is recited in the
preamble to the original version of the present
constitution of the State of "Whereas
the Legislative Council of the colony of Victoria
did in the year 1854 pass a Bill intituled "An Act to
establish a Constitution in and for the colony of
Victoria": And
whereas the said Bill was presented to the then
Lieutenant-Governor of And
whereas the Imperial Parliament deemed it expedient
to authorize Her Majesty to assent to the said
reserved Bill amended by the omission of certain
provisions thereof: And
whereas the said Bill as amended was set forth in a
Schedule to an Act of the Imperial Parliament passed
in the 18th and 19th years of the reign of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria intituled
"An Act to enable Her Majesty to Assent to a Bill,
as amended, of the Legislature of Victoria, to
establish a Constitution in and for the Colony of
Victoria" by which Act Her Majesty in Council was
authorized to assent to the said reserved Bill
amended by the omission of certain provisions
thereof, and the Bill was assented to
accordingly: And
whereas by the said Bill as so amended the Colony of
Victoria was established as a self-governing colony
with responsible government: And
whereas the said Bill as so amended is the
Constitution of Victoria and is known as The
Constitution Act: And
whereas it is provided by section LX of the said The
Constitution Act that the Legislature of
Victoria has full power and authority from time to
time by any Act or Acts to repeal alter or vary all
or any of the provisions of The Constitution Act and
to substitute others in lieu thereof: Be
it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent
Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the
Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of
Victoria in this present Parliament assembled and by
the authority of the same as follows (that is to
say):- 1. (1) This Act may be cited as
the Constitution
Act 1975. |
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The
first Parliamentary chamber in Australia was not
elected, but was appointed by the Governor, under
the New South Wales Act 1823 - 4 Geo. IV c
96 (Imp.) All MLCs in NSW
continued to be fully appointed, by the
Governor-in-Council, until the New South Wales Constitution
Act 1902 - 2 Edw. VI No. 32 - was amended at
a referendum in
1933. The present provisions in that
Constitution
Act 1902, whereby the
Legislative Council surrendered its power to block
supply and allowed the provision
whereby its rejection of any other bill could only be
overridden by a referendum, were also
inserted in 1933. A proposal to abolish the
Legislative Council and to prohibit its restoration
was defeated at a referendum
in 1961. The
Legislative Council of New South Wales had by then
become the last Australian Parliamentary chamber to
have its members so appointed. The referendum that
implemented that change instituted a system for
electing MLCs in NSW
that involved overlapping 12-year terms, with
elections every fourth year by an electoral college
consisting of all MLAs
and the continuing two-thirds of the MLCs, with voting by secret
ballot using PR-STV
counting. The present system of direct election
of all MLCs in NSW by
the people, with PR-STV
counting, was introduced at a successful referendum in
1978 to amend the Constitution
Act 1902. |
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*** TASMANIA The 1983 by-election countback
for one of the seven seats in the House of Assembly
for the electorate of At that 1982 election Dr Sanders'
name appeared on the |
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