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QUOTA Newsletter of the
Proportional Representation Society of Australia QN2012D December 2012 www.prsa.org.au Greens join ACT Government
after October poll In a result sharply different from
the polling figures
published by The
Canberra Times in the final week of the
campaign (it turned out that only one-quarter of those
contacted participated), on 20
October 2012 the ACT Greens lost a sitting
member in each electorate, two to Liberal
candidates and one to Labor, as their support
fell from 15.6% to 10.7%. For the first time
since self-government, first preference votes
overall for Labor (up 1.5%) and Liberal (up
7.3%) were on a par at 38.9%, and each party
won 8 of the 17 seats, so Shane Rattenbury,
the previous Assembly’s Speaker, and
re-elected Greens MLA for Molonglo, the
seven-member electorate, determined who would
govern. In an
agreement struck a week after the counting
ended, Mr Rattenbury joined the Gallagher
Ministry on the basis of a new signed agreement
between Labor and the Greens setting out
priorities for action (including additional
efforts to obtain control over the future size
of the Legislative Assembly), and protocols
for consultation and public acknowledgement in
general, and for conduct in the event of
disagreements. Recent
changes in
electoral legislation predominantly concerned
campaign funding, with more stringent caps
introduced on donations and expenditure. Elections
ACT developed a new electronic roll mark-off
system, ballot paper reconciliation tool and
vote count transmission facility. On this
occasion, as electors received their
ballot-papers, they were marked off the roll
on palm devices sourced from Tasmania’s
Electoral Commission, and those encrypted
particulars were updated within minutes over a
secure wireless network to every device
throughout the territory. In the
final week of June, there were three
last-minute applications for registration of
new political parties that would have access
to labelled columns on ballot-papers. Bullet
Train for Canberra and the Marion Lê Social
Justice Party were each registered early in
August, but the Pirate Party application was
rejected, as insufficient signatures of ACT
electors were presented, and there was no
further time available in which to rectify
that deficiency. Its candidates were included
among the ungrouped without any descriptor. A total
of 74 candidates
nominated, 50 men and 24 women, 28 in
Ginninderra, 26 (down noticeably) in Molonglo,
and 20 in Brindabella. There was a 90% turnout
with 3.5% informal voting overall, but lowest
in Molonglo at 2.9%. A single first preference
is formal, even though the ballot-paper asks
for at least as many preferences as there are
vacancies. Quotas ranged from 10,600 in
Brindabella to 11,400 in Molonglo. Six women
were elected, four being incumbents. For the
first time, an ACT electorate, Ginninderra,
had a majority of women elected. The
Chief Minister gained over two quotas in her
own right in Molonglo. The Opposition Leader,
who had moved to Brindabella, started with
nearly two quotas. No other candidate was
elected on first preferences alone, but four
came within three percentage points. The
effects of Robson Rotation were evident in
both five-member electorates where Labor and
the Liberals each achieved one majority of
seats, starting respectively with 40% of first
preferences in Ginninderra and 45% in
Brindabella. The likelihood of Green
incumbents not being returned after their
columns started with 9.9% and 7.9%
respectively became more apparent as the days
passed (they have usually done a little better
in electronic voting, whose results are
available immediately counting starts).
Support for two major party contenders in each
case was fairly even. When the final exclusion
was made, they were respectively around 800
and 1,100 votes behind. Later articles
suggested that the Greens’ campaign nearly
ended in the week before polling day. In
addition, for several days there appeared to
be rather close contests between members of
the same parties, who could not all be
successful in Molonglo and Brindabella. Just
over 200 votes separated the last two Liberals
in Molonglo, while the progress totals of the
incumbent Greens there differed by 250 when
one had to be excluded. Similarly, just over
200 votes separated the last two Liberals in
Brindabella. On 8
November the Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, released a
written commitment
from the Prime Minister to bring in
sought-after amending legislation to allow the
Legislative Assembly to determine its size
during the Territory’s centenary year, and told of the
early establishment of an expert reference
group to recommend on its most appropriate
size.
A review of
the Australian
Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act
1988 had begun in the Assembly in
December 2011 and the Standing Committee on
Administration and Procedure released its report
in August 2012. PRSA’s
ACT Branch participated in a Twitter
session in May believed to be among the first
instituted in any parliament, emphasizing that
seven-member electorates have been markedly
better at reflecting the diversity of voters’
views. Besides
seeking control over the Assembly’s size, the
Standing Committee recommended redistributions
be mandatory after two terms, now eight rather
than six years (ACT legislation already
specifies that they be undertaken after every
election), and for elector and voting
qualifications to be determined locally by
enactment rather than just following federal
law. After
passage of the Territories Self-Government
Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and
Amendment of Laws) Act 2011, ACT and Northern Territory
legislation can now only be disallowed by
action of both the House of Representatives
and the Senate rather than by just the Federal
Executive, as has happened sometimes in the
past.
Single-member distortions
set Japan’s course The
Japanese House of Representatives was
dissolved early for elections on 16 December
2012 following passage of legislation to
increase the consumption tax. Since 1996 (see QN 1996D),
there have been 300 single-member electorates
using first-past-the-post methods and a
further 180 block proportional representation
seats determined separately in 11 regions by
the d’Hondt
highest average method. In
2009, the Japan Democratic Party (DPJ) had
swept to power winning nearly 75% of the
single-member districts with 47% of the vote,
as well as just under half the PR seats with
42% support. After that, there were three
Prime Ministers, outrage over the handling of
the response to the tsunami and nuclear power
station meltdown of 2011, and a bitter public
split over taxation measures after which
several groups formed new parties hoping to
achieve ongoing prominence. These breakaways
reduced DPJ party numbers from 308 at the
election to 230 at the dissolution. Some
new regional parties were also formed, and
then some merged with others of similar
disposition as jockeying for a “third pole”
position intensified. These developments
tended to assist the ousted Liberal Democratic
Party (LDP), which won only 119 seats in 2009,
and its New Komeito (Clean Government) ally. Voter turnout
declined from a hybrid-system record high of
69% in 2009 to a record low of 59% since World
War II. Not standing against each other, LDP
and its partner secured 82% of the
single-member districts on just over 43% of
the vote. On average, there were 2.5
candidates in rural districts, 3.4 in urban
ones and 3.0 in mixed ones, leading to several
dozen additional LDP seats because of the
vote-splitting among its opponents. LDP and
its partner won 39% of the PR seats for their
joint 44% national support. With just over
two-thirds of the House of Representatives,
they could override any obstacles in the House of Councillors,
half of whose members’ terms end in 2013. DPJ secured 57 seats, just 27 in
single-member districts after getting around
23% support, and 30 PR seats on 16% support. A
record high seven Cabinet ministers were
defeated and the former Prime Minister
immediately stepped down as party president.
The largely-new Japan Restoration Party
emerged with 54 seats, including 40 in the PR
blocks on 20% support, while the splinter Your
Party (LDP offshoot that stood in 2009) and
Tomorrow Party of Japan were left with 18 (up
10) and 9 seats (down 52) respectively. Their
single-digit support levels continuing to
fall, the once-prominent Japanese Communist
Party and Social Democratic Party won just 8
and 2 seats respectively.
PR Prevails at Victoria’s
2012 Municipal Elections Victorian councillors’ first-ever
four-year terms expired in October 2012.
General elections for the next four-year
terms, as required by the Local
Government Act 1989, were held on the fourth Saturday in
October. Of Victoria’s 79 municipalities,
48 (over 60%) consist entirely of one or more
multi-councillor electoral districts, where
all ballots are required to be counted by
quota-preferential proportional
representation. Just over 21% of councils had one
or more uncontested seats. The uncontested
seats in those 17 councils were distributed as
shown in the table below:
© 2012 Proportional
Representation Society of Australia National President: Bogey Musidlak 14 Strzelecki Cr. NARRABUNDAH 2604 Editor, Quota Notes: Geoffrey Goode 18 Anita St. BEAUMARIS 3193 Tel: (02) 6295 8137, (03) 9589 1802 Mobile 04291 76725 quota@prsa.org.au |
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