By slightly decreasing the size of the Legislative Council, we could have periodic election of 21 MLCs. This is a more convenient number for Hare-Clark as it allows 3 provinces each to return 7 MLCs at each election.
The periodic election of 21 MLCs is seen as most appropriate by the Proportional Representation Society. The PRSAV-T takes the general position that changing to a proportional representation electoral system is by far the most important of the changes being proposed by the Government and being considered by the Commission. Although we are not opposed in principle to general elections for the Council, any proposed change that includes abolition of the current periodic elections might increase opposition to the change by the people of Victoria. In our preferred model we only advocate changes that are strongly motivated by the desire for an excellent and responsive electoral system. Since periodic elections are consistent with this, we do not advocate their replacement. The PRSAV-T notes that three of the four Australian Upper Houses that have adopted PR electoral systems have retained, as their normal system, periodic elections at which only half the members face election. Discontinuing overlapping terms is not in any way a necessary, or necessarily desirable, accompaniment to the introduction of PR, and might instead create gratuitous and misguided, but nevertheless effective, opposition to PR. We are not aware of any moves to dispense with rotation for the Senate, or the SA or NSW Legislative Councils.
This Model 3 would be as for Model 2, but would set the number of MLCs at 42, as that would enable there to be three provinces, each returning 7 MLCs at each periodic election. To preserve the existing nexus between the houses, and the existing system of each Council province being contiguous with the same number of Assembly districts, the number of members in the Assembly would need to decrease slightly from 88 to 84, thus establishing a ratio of 28 districts per province. This proposed slight decrease in the size of parliament is consistent with current trends, which do not seem to have been unpopular.