❓ Mr. Rundle questions the Premier on electoral reform of the Legislative Council, specifically regarding the potential adoption of a single-state electorate model and engagement with regional communities. The Premier avoids direct answers, highlighting anomalies in the current system and the appointment of Malcolm McCusker to review the matter.
AnsweredQoN 154Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELECTORAL REFORM — LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
154. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I refer to the government's
intention to pursue electoral reform of the Legislative Council.
(1) Can the
Premier confirm that it has been a policy of WA Labor to abolish upper house
regions and replace them with a whole single-state electorate since at least
1983?
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, please, members!
Mr P.J.
RUNDLE : I continue my questions —
(2) Can the
Premier rule out this model being adopted by his government?
(3) Has the
Premier engaged directly with any regional communities about the impact that
these proposed reforms will have?
154. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I refer to the government's
intention to pursue electoral reform of the Legislative Council.
(1) Can the
Premier confirm that it has been a policy of WA Labor to abolish upper house
regions and replace them with a whole single-state electorate since at least
1983?
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, please, members!
Mr P.J.
RUNDLE : I continue my questions —
(2) Can the
Premier rule out this model being adopted by his government?
(3) Has the
Premier engaged directly with any regional communities about the impact that
these proposed reforms will have?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
There are a lot of hypotheticals in that question. I have not read the ALP
platform lately so I cannot advise the member about the veracity of the first
part of his question. I can advise him, however, that the Minister for
Electoral Affairs has appointed an eminent Western Australian, Malcolm
McCusker, QC—a former Governor of Western Australia and someone
respected all over the state—to look at these matters in light of what
occurred in the state election, whereby a member of the Daylight Saving Party
was elected to the upper house with 98 votes.
The
Leader of the Liberal Party was complaining that we got 10 000 votes below the
line. Hon Wilson Tucker , who was
elected in the Mining and Pastoral Region, got three votes below the line. From
recollection, I think the Liberal Party got 2 000 votes below the line, which
might reflect why there is only one Liberal Party member representing that
region in the house at the moment. The Daylight Saving Party also ran a candidate in the Agricultural Region, who, strangely enough, is Brett Tucker, the twin
brother of Wilson Tucker. He got four votes below the line! He got 25 per cent
more direct votes then Wilson Tucker, yet he did not get elected. We had these
two Tuckers out there trying to secure seats in the Western Australian Parliament—one got three votes and one got
four. The one who got three votes got elected and the one who got four did not. What is clear from the Tucker
experience is that we need to look toward some sort of reform. That is what
Malcolm McCusker is doing; he is looking toward some sort of reform of these
matters.
As I outlined before in the house—I
will find the details—the one that astonished me, which I was not aware
of before, is that, although I deeply respect Kalgoorlie, of course, the vote
of someone in Kalgoorlie is worth three and a half times the vote of someone in
Albany. I was astonished when I learnt that recently. I was not aware of that.
They are two great regional cities of Western Australia, but the vote of a person
in one city is worth three and a half times the value of the vote of someone in
the other regional city. I think most people across the regions would think
that does not make sense. It is the case that there are these anomalies all
over the state, including, as I pointed out—this is remarkable as well—that
the vote of someone in Wundowie, in the member for Central Wheatbelt's
electorate, is worth four times the vote of someone in Wooroloo. Can anyone
explain that as well? Why is a vote in Wooroloo, a quaint, lovely place, worth a quarter of the vote of someone in
Wundowie, seven kilometres away? Can someone explain that anomaly to me?
I do not understand it. All I would say is that these matters are being looked
at by Mr McCusker and his committee.
When it comes to the member
talking about abolishing things in the upper house, as I have outlined to the house before, the only person I am aware of
who wanted to abolish the upper house is ''Big Nick'', the Nationals' man in Kalgoorlie and candidate for the Mining and Pastoral
Region. He wants to abolish the upper house, when he was not elected to it.
There are a lot of hypotheticals in that question. I have not read the ALP
platform lately so I cannot advise the member about the veracity of the first
part of his question. I can advise him, however, that the Minister for
Electoral Affairs has appointed an eminent Western Australian, Malcolm
McCusker, QC—a former Governor of Western Australia and someone
respected all over the state—to look at these matters in light of what
occurred in the state election, whereby a member of the Daylight Saving Party
was elected to the upper house with 98 votes.
The
Leader of the Liberal Party was complaining that we got 10 000 votes below the
line. Hon Wilson Tucker , who was
elected in the Mining and Pastoral Region, got three votes below the line. From
recollection, I think the Liberal Party got 2 000 votes below the line, which
might reflect why there is only one Liberal Party member representing that
region in the house at the moment. The Daylight Saving Party also ran a candidate in the Agricultural Region, who, strangely enough, is Brett Tucker, the twin
brother of Wilson Tucker. He got four votes below the line! He got 25 per cent
more direct votes then Wilson Tucker, yet he did not get elected. We had these
two Tuckers out there trying to secure seats in the Western Australian Parliament—one got three votes and one got
four. The one who got three votes got elected and the one who got four did not. What is clear from the Tucker
experience is that we need to look toward some sort of reform. That is what
Malcolm McCusker is doing; he is looking toward some sort of reform of these
matters.
As I outlined before in the house—I
will find the details—the one that astonished me, which I was not aware
of before, is that, although I deeply respect Kalgoorlie, of course, the vote
of someone in Kalgoorlie is worth three and a half times the vote of someone in
Albany. I was astonished when I learnt that recently. I was not aware of that.
They are two great regional cities of Western Australia, but the vote of a person
in one city is worth three and a half times the value of the vote of someone in
the other regional city. I think most people across the regions would think
that does not make sense. It is the case that there are these anomalies all
over the state, including, as I pointed out—this is remarkable as well—that
the vote of someone in Wundowie, in the member for Central Wheatbelt's
electorate, is worth four times the vote of someone in Wooroloo. Can anyone
explain that as well? Why is a vote in Wooroloo, a quaint, lovely place, worth a quarter of the vote of someone in
Wundowie, seven kilometres away? Can someone explain that anomaly to me?
I do not understand it. All I would say is that these matters are being looked
at by Mr McCusker and his committee.
When it comes to the member
talking about abolishing things in the upper house, as I have outlined to the house before, the only person I am aware of
who wanted to abolish the upper house is ''Big Nick'', the Nationals' man in Kalgoorlie and candidate for the Mining and Pastoral
Region. He wants to abolish the upper house, when he was not elected to it.
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