2013 News

The Proportional Representation Society of Australia mourns the death, on 14 December 2013, of Hon. Neil Robson AM, an Honorary Life Member of PRSA. Neil – a former Tasmanian Government Minister and Bass MHA – championed Tasmania’s superb Hare-Clark electoral system, and he energetically instigated its important Robson Rotation refinement.

Bayside City Council’s first-ever casual vacancy is to be filled next month by a countback of the quota of votes that elected the vacating councillor, Stephen Hartney, to Central Ward. It could well elect Damon Carli, as 65.5% of Mr Hartney’s quota was from first preference votes. Mr Carli is the next unelected candidate on the preference order Stephen Hartney recommended to voters, so he could be expected to fill the vacancy, unless half a quota (77% [50.0/65.5] of the voters that gave their first preference to Stephen Hartney in 2012) did not follow that recommendation.

Mr Carli gained only 306 first preference votes in 2012 (the second-lowest of the 20 standing), as voters preferred Mr Hartney (and other candidates) to him. Mr Hartney has resigned, but his voters chose his successor in 2012, so counting of their ballots will decide the outcome. The first preference votes for Mr Carli in 2012 – or whomever is elected to fill the vacancy – were to elect councillors then, but what matters now is the eligible candidate next preferred by a majority of the quota of votes that elected Mr Hartney, so Mr Carli’s first preferences are irrelevant to who the proper replacement for Cr Hartney ought to be.

Video of an incorporated association being formed by a meeting of inaugural members shows how little emphasis its chairman placed on even calling for nominations, so that an election could be held.

That failure is compounded by Rule 50 of the Model Rules now promoted by Consumer Affairs Victoria, which specifies that committees of management are to be formed by officers being elected to specified single positions by plurality counting, and remaining committee members by multiple plurality counting. Unlike PR, that lets the biggest group of members, even if that is well below 50%, be elected to all the positions.

PRSAV-T Inc’s written and oral (Page 98) submissions to Victoria’s recently-appointed Local Government Electoral Review Panel

PRSAV-T Inc’s Secretary has articles on How Voting for the Senate Works and How do we solve a problem like the Senate? published on The Conversation website. The first of those two articles was then republished on the Lifehacker website.

PRSA’s NSW Branch Vice-President, Stephen Lesslie, speaks on ABC radio on reforms needed for the Senate electoral system after weaknesses shown at the 2013 elections.

PRSA’s NSW Branch Newsletter notes the record 110 candidates for NSW, which forces a considered voter to consecutively mark 99 squares without a mistake, and it supports the PRSA in a timely call for abolition of Group Voting Tickets for Senate polls.

Article by PRSAV-T Inc. officers, on The Conversation website, on Unelected Senators and MLCs appears on the day Victoria’s third unelected MLC is appointed by Victoria’s Parliament, as he is the only nominee of the ALP National Executive!

PRSAV-T Inc. submission to Inquiry by the Electoral Matters Committee of the Parliament of Victoria.