Political expert, Great Southern leaders weigh in on one vote, one value Upper House reforms

A WA political scientist has weighed in on the McGowan Government’s one vote, one value overhaul as rival MPs continue to trade barbs and Great Southern local government leaders voice their fears about the reforms. Last Wednesday, a Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform headed by former WA governor Malcolm McCusker tabled its review into how “electoral equality” could be achieved for all citizens voting for the Legislative Council. The Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Equality) Bill 2021 was introduced the next day. The six existing Legislative Council regions — each represented by six MPs despite huge population differences — are set to be scrapped and replaced by a “whole-of-State” electorate, with the number of MPs to rise from 36 to 37. Country WA is currently represented by half of the Upper House MPs across three regions, with Albany falling into the South West electoral region. The changes mirror similar electoral reform adopted by New South Wales in 1978, which was decided by a referendum. Ballot preferencing will also be simplified, and group voting tickets abolished to prevent complex preference harvesting deals between micro-parties after the Daylight Saving Party’s Wilson Tucker was elevated to the Upper House despite securing only 98 primary votes in the Mining and Pastoral Region. UWA political science Professor Benjamin Reilly said there were positives and negatives for regional voters under the new model. “On the one hand, there will no longer be designated members for particular regions such as Mining and Pastoral or Agricultural regions,” he said. “To the extent that these members did represent regional interests under the old system, that is a cost. “On the other hand, because of the lower threshold under the new system, regional voters are likely to have more chance of electing parties which cater specifically to rural interests. “I think it will be welcomed by smaller parties of both the left and the right such as the Greens, One Nation, Farmers Shooters and Fishers etc, as it gives them more opportunity to win seats, while also making it harder for the micro-parties like Daylight Savings due to the shift away from ticket voting to a form of optional preferential voting. “Geographically, it probably means more Perth-based MLCs.” Professor Reilly said the current system had been becoming “increasingly unfair and undemocratic” in terms of the representation of different voters depending on where they lived. “There is obviously self-interest involved as well,” he said. “But the most important single factor was opportunity: due to the landslide election results, Labor controls the Upper House and is thus in a position to make these changes in a way that wasn’t possible previously, and may not be possible again in the future. “I think the Premier took advantage of a situation post-election to make reforms that many observers had been advocating but which he didn’t expect to have the opportunity to do. “It would not have been possible if so many rural and regional voters had not voted Labor at the last election.” South West Labor MLC Alannah MacTiernan said “there has been a battle for reform for more than 130 years” and the reforms would “inject new life into our democracy”. “In delivering one vote, one value — making every West Australian’s vote equal — we will make every Legislative Councillor accountable to every West Australian,” she said. “It will do away with absurdities, like a voter in Bindoon, 37km from the metro boundary, having almost 2.5 times the voting power of a voter from Albany — 400km from Perth.” Under the new changes, a party or person would secure a seat for every 2.6 per cent of the overall WA vote — an estimated 45,000 ballots. Ms MacTiernan said the move wasn’t about “Labor consolidating power for itself” because Labor had the majority of regional members in the Upper House. “Reducing the quota of total vote required to earn a Legislative Council seat will ensure we continue to see a diversity of voices in Parliament,” she said. “There will be new parties on the left and right, and groups emerging from time to time to advance single issues by garnering votes across the State. “In the end, it will be up to political parties to ensure they have good regional representation in the Upper House”. Ms MacTiernan’s South West counterpart, Nationals WA MLC James Hayward, said Premier Mark McGowan had been “completely dishonest” about the reforms, repeatedly stating one vote, one value was not on his agenda in the lead-up to the March State election. “I am really disappointed because it will effectively mean the end of regional Upper House MPs,” he said. “It is an absolute annihilation of regional voices and I am really disappointed for the people of regional WA. “I think that they are misleading and using spin to try to cover up the blatant attack on regional people.” However, Albany MLA Rebecca Stephens said the Premier had been honest in saying the reforms were not on his agenda before the election. “Prior to the election no one could have imagined that our electoral system would be gamed to allow someone to be elected with just 98 primary votes,” she said. “But it did. The current system is broken.” Ms Stephens said she wanted a system where everyone’s vote was treated equally, no matter where they lived. “This new model will mean the proportion of votes a political party receives determines the proportion of seats they win. You cannot be fairer than that,” she said. “Every Upper House member in the new system will be accountable to the people of Albany.” City of Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington — also the chairman of Regional Capitals Alliance, a group representing regional WA’s top 10 most populous local governments — said the unique experience and needs of the regions needed to be represented in Parliament. “I don’t think the old system was probably entirely fair — whether this goes too far or not will probably remain to be seen,” he said. “I think it will be difficult for country people to get full representation now because there is a possibility that everyone who gets elected to those 37 seats can come from the metropolitan area.” Shire of Plantagenet president Chris Pavlovich said less rural representation would have an impact. “With the recent State Budget announcement, the lower Great Southern certainly missed out on a lot of potential capital projects funding which is very disappointing considering there was a $5 billion surplus in the Budget,” he said. “Mining and agricultural produce is the engine room of the economy, and while there might not be many people living in some of the more remote areas, it certainly creates the wealth of the State, so having less people representing the area certainly can’t be that positive for the future of the State’s engine room.”