Australian electoral system: Difference between revisions

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The '''Australian electoral system''' is a system of parliamentary democracy, largely based on the [[W:Westminster system |Westminster system]]. Since 1920, [[Australia]] has used preferential voting systems (PV):

The '''Australian electoral system''' is a system of parliamentary democracy, largely based on the [[W:Westminster system |Westminster system]]. Since 1920, [[Australia]] has used [[Preferential voting | preferential voting systems]] (PV):

* Single-winner Instant Run-off voting (IRV) in the House

* [[Single-member district | Single-winner]] [[Instant-runoff voting | Instant Run-off voting]] (IRV) in the House

* Multi-winner Single Transferable vote (STV) in the Senate

* [[Multi-member system | Multi-winner]] [[Single transferable vote | Single Transferable vote]] (STV) in the Senate

In Australia, voting is compulsory for all Australian citizens over 18, except prisoners currently serving a 5-year term or more. It is also compulsory to be on the electoral roll.

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== Australian states and territories ==

All 6 Australian states and territories have compulsory voting and preferential voting, the ACT and Tasmania however use a proportional representation method of PV for the lower house called Hare-Clark. All states use PR-STV for their upper houses (senate equivalent) except Tasmania ~~which I'm not sure of~~ and Queensland which has abolished it's upper house. Minor parties do much better in these parliaments, often gaining seats in both houses and occasionally holding the balance of power. This is largely due to smaller electorates and the structure of revenue raising and service delivery in the Australian federation. The Federal government does the vast bulk of revenue raising, income tax, company and consumption taxes such as the GST, and the states are left to spend, once the money comes back to them from the federal government. Thus some people consider minor parties to be capable and wise spenders, but bad revenue raising and economic managers.

All 6 Australian states and territories have compulsory voting and preferential voting, the ACT and Tasmania however use a proportional representation method of PV for the lower house called Hare-Clark. All states use PR-STV for their upper houses (senate equivalent) except Tasmania and Queensland which has abolished it's upper house. Minor parties do much better in these parliaments, often gaining seats in both houses and occasionally holding the balance of power. This is largely due to smaller electorates and the structure of revenue raising and service delivery in the Australian federation. The Federal government does the vast bulk of revenue raising, income tax, company and consumption taxes such as the GST, and the states are left to spend, once the money comes back to them from the federal government. Thus some people consider minor parties to be capable and wise spenders, but bad revenue raising and economic managers.

== Preferential voting in Australia ==

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== Major party duopoly ==

[[File:Australia house vs senate support vs seats separated lines.png|thumb|Party support vs actual representation in Australian Senate vs House]]

~~Although Australia has a system where unlike in the U.S. and Britain a vote for a minor party isn't wasted, the~~ two party duopoly reigns supreme and had never been threatened. Minor parties are rarely if ever elected to the lower house (HoR), although strong independent candidates much more frequently are. The noteworthy parties in Australian politics today are the Australian Labor Party (ALP) which is ~~similar~~ in ideology ~~to both the British Labour Party and the U.S. Democratic party~~; The Liberal Party ~~are~~ ~~similar~~ to ~~the~~ ~~Tories in Britain and the Republican party in the U.S.~~ and together with the National party, who represent rural and regional interests, they form a coalition to become the second major party. Left-wing minor parties include the Greens and the Democrats and right-wing minor parties include One Nation and Family First. All other minor parties ~~are so insignificant that they won't be covered here,~~ typically ~~receiving~~ less than 1% of the overall first preference vote.

The two party duopoly reigns supreme and had never been threatened. Minor parties are rarely if ever elected to the lower house (HoR), although strong independent candidates much more frequently are. The noteworthy parties in Australian politics today are the Australian Labor Party (ALP) which follows the progressive ideology; The Liberal Party which follow a Liberal ideology and together with the National party, who represent rural and regional interests, they form a coalition to become the second major party. Left-wing minor parties include the Greens and the Democrats and right-wing minor parties include One Nation and Family First. All other minor parties typically receive less than 1% of the overall first preference vote.

In 2022, there was a marked move in first preferences away from the two major parties and towards minor parties and independents.

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== Major party duopoly ==

=== Theories for the continuation of the major party duopoly ===

Some argue that the reason that the major party duopoly is still apparent in Australia is because strategic voting still widely occurs in the PV system, that is that people frequently have to sacrifice their true preference in order to pick 'the lesser of two evils'. ~~However very high votes for fringe candidates are often recorded without unintended repercussions and there~~ is ~~absolutely~~ ~~no evidence that strategic voting occurs on any scale in Australia. The reasons why~~ the ~~duopoly~~ ~~exists is for other reasons, partly because the minor parties provide a moderately~~ effect ~~on the extremes of the major parties~~. For instance the Australian Labor Party (ALP) wouldn't be so environmentally friendly if it weren't for the threat of voters deserting for the Australian Greens (Greens) and its policies on the mandatory detention of refugees would probably be stronger as well.

Some argue that the reason that the major party duopoly is still apparent in Australia is because strategic voting still widely occurs in the PV system, that is that people frequently have to sacrifice their true preference in order to pick 'the lesser of two evils'. This is known as the [[Center squeeze]] effect.

Another theory for the reasons why the duopoly exists is because the minor parties provide a moderating effect on the extremes of the major parties. For instance the Australian Labor Party (ALP) wouldn't be so environmentally friendly if it weren't for the threat of voters deserting for the Australian Greens (Greens) and its policies on the mandatory detention of refugees would probably be stronger as well.

On the other side of politics a Liberal party candidate for the seat of Ipswich near Brisbane, Pauline Hanson caused a stir by her widely perceived as racist comments about Aborigines and Asian immigration. As a consequence she was disowned by her party and went on to found Australia's most successful minor party One Nation. However One Nation failed to do well partly because of constitutional failings in the party, but mostly because the John Winston Howard lead Liberal/National coalition appropriated some of her racist, inhumane and divisive policies and successfully implemented them in time to win the 2001 election.

Both the Centre squeeze effect and the moderating effect of viable more extreme parties cause a polarization in the centre and an underserving of moderates.

=== Reasons for the continuation of the major party duopoly ===

~~The~~ major reason that Australia has a two-party system is that the House is elected by ~~electoral division. To win an~~ electoral division (also called seats, electorates, or constituencies), a candidate must gather 50% of the preferences of the voters in that electorate, after redistribution of preferences from eliminated candidates. This leads to minority parties not winning seats, as, although there may be a large total number of first-preference voters for the minority party, they are distributed among the divisions, and do not gain a majority of preferences in any particular seat.

Another major reason that Australia has a two-party system is that the House is elected by electoral division (also called seats, electorates, or constituencies). To win an electoral division, a candidate must gather 50% of the preferences of the voters in that electorate, after redistribution of preferences from eliminated candidates. This leads to minority parties not winning seats, as, although there may be a large total number of first-preference voters for the minority party, they are distributed among the divisions, and do not gain a majority of preferences in any particular seat. Since each multi winner district has a limited number of seats this means that there is a lower bound on the percentage of voters who need to support them in each district not across the country.

The system of electoral division means that a party can win a majority of seats without enjoying a majority of voter support, if the "majority party by voters" voters are many in number in a few electorates, and few in number in the majority of electorates. Moreover, losing ballots in each electorate have no affect on the composition of the House of Representatives. When done purposely, this phenomenon is known as [[Gerrymandering]]. Thankfully Australia sees little true Gerrymandering, as division boundaries are directed by the independent Australian Electoral Commission.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/Practice7/HTML/Chapter3/Electoral_divisions|title=Electoral divisions|website=Parliament of Australia|url-status=live}}</ref> To remedy this issue, an electoral system that guarantees a measure of [[Proportional Representation|proportional representation]] has to be used.

Other reasons why minor parties are underrepresented in the Australian House of Representatives are:

# Many voters choose to vote above the line instead of ranking candidates. This allowance is made to to the high cognitive load of ranking. This reduces the system to Party List.

# They don't represent all that many people, not enough to get them over the line in PV.

# The method of [[Parliamentary government formation]] is party based which causes further partisanship and polarization.

# They are not trusted enough to form an effective government, they are popularly thought of as idealistic and not practical.

# They are often perceived as being 'one issue parties' with narrow agendas, such as 'the environment', 'lower fuel and beer excise' and 'nuclear disarmament'. Such Parties in Australia have such imaginative names as 'Citizen's Electoral Council', 'Fishing Party' and 'Family First'.

== Compulsory voting in Australia ==