Abbott's ministers testing water for changes to Senate elections
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Version 0 of 1. Abbott government ministers have started private informal consultations about highly sensitive changes to the Senate voting system aimed at reducing the influence of minor parties, but bipartisan support is not assured, with Labor deeply divided on the issue. The government could pass laws bringing in optional preferential voting for the Senate with the backing of the Greens – who have long supported the reforms – but the major parties have usually sought bipartisanship on big electoral law changes. Labor backed a parliamentary committee report calling for the change, but factional leaders including the shadow minister and Victorian senator Stephen Conroy and the New South Wales senator Sam Dastyari are opposed to change on the grounds that it would “entrench” Coalition control of the Senate. Others, including the Labor MP and deputy chair of the joint standing committee on electoral matters, Alan Griffin, and the shadow minister and committee member Gary Gray back the change. The shadow cabinet has yet to take a decision and will not do so until the government produces legislation. The proposed change to optional preferential Senate voting is a two-edged sword for the government, and it has been wary to push ahead with the changes unanimously recommended by the joint standing committee on electoral matters almost a year ago. News that the government is starting to take soundings on the issue has enraged the crossbench senators upon whose vote the Coalition often relies in what the prime minister describes as a “feral” Senate. But if the changes are passed, or appear likely to, it could also give the crossbenchers pause for thought before blocking key measures in the government’s second budget and risking a double dissolution election at which few of them would be likely to survive. Senior government sources have concluded the Senate is unmanageable and are considering putting the changes to parliament after it returns in June. The committee’s interim report followed the 2013 election in which a record number of diverse crossbenchers were elected after complicated preference deals brokered by the so-called “preference whisperer” Glenn Druery. That election also saw record numbers of Senate candidates. The committee recommended: The Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said at the time: “This reform does not impact on the democratic right of minor parties to stand for election, but ensures that preferences only flow in the direction the voter chooses.” The committee’s final report – dealing with a broader range of electoral issues – is due within weeks. Crossbenchers argue the government has failed to try to negotiate with them on key measures, and that their votes usually represent concerns held by their constituencies. The independent senator Nick Xenophon has suggested an alternative voting procedure change, to require voters to number three squares “above the line” on the Senate voting paper. The ABC’s election analyst Antony Green has calculated that had the optional preferential system been in place in 2013 the government would have won an extra two seats (taking it from 33 to 35), Labor would have won two more as well (taking it from 25 to 27) the Greens would have won one fewer, (taking them from 10 to nine) and the crossbench would have had five senators rather than eight. But Green points out that, had the new system been in place, it is almost certain there would have been fewer candidates and parties contesting the election, which would have also influenced the result. Tony Abbott told the party room last week the government was now concentrating on announcements that did not require the approval of the Senate. The social services minister, Scott Morrison, has also sought Labor backing for his upcoming childcare changes. The Palmer United party leader, Clive Palmer, said he believed the proposed changes would “guarantee the Coalition controls the Senate for the next 40 years”. |