Towards A Mature Electoral System in Queensland
Proportional Representation
by Salim Masai and Dr Nancy Spencer
The new fixed four-year term of the Queensland Parliament has now commenced. The State Government has a stated aim of introducing partial proportional representation for undivided councils at the 2024 Local Government election. The Queensland Greens continue to advocate for proportional representation in Queensland to heighten democracy. Now is the perfect opportunity to review the learning from other jurisdictions and propose a way forward to better protect the democratic rights of marginalised citizens.
New Zealand is a rare Westminster case, with a mature electoral system that enhances democracy through proportional representation (PR); and like Queensland, its unicameral legislature represents 5 million people. To get more democratic governance, with increased sensitivity to the pressing needs of our diverse communities, Queensland should adopt PR.
To achieve this, the push must have grassroots origins, driven through the creation of a diverse, transparent, and publicly trusted Citizens’ Assembly; it must capitalize on momentum and use a media blitz in the last two weeks before a binding plebiscite, and shift the narrative to one of improved outcomes, i.e., better governance, and counter opposition efforts to confuse. Voters and the Citizens’ Assembly should insist on a simple majority for its passing.
Benefits of Proportional Representation
PR would complement Queensland’s recognition of First Nation’s people through its commitment to develop a treaty, but also enhance their representation within government, as shown by New Zealand. While Queensland uses a committee system for reviewing draft legislation to compensate for its unicameral system, ruling party control over the process makes this ineffectual. We need a more balanced Parliament requiring multilateral consensus: If Jacinda Ardern can do this, so can we.
PR translates votes into elected seats better than non-PR systems, such as preferential voting (PV) and first-past-the-post systems. Under PR, if a party receives 43 percent of primary/popular votes, they get close to 43 percent of seats. In contrast, Queensland’s current PV system typically gives seat majorities to parties that get well under 45 percent of votes; conversely, only two percent of seats might go to a party that gets 10 percent of votes. Thus, a core problem of non-PR systems is two-party-dominance, which squeezes out legitimate representation from significant minority interests, like North-West Queensland, Indigenous voices, or the Greens.
How To’s from Canada and New Zealand
But how to get PR when the “yes” cases for referenda have so often failed in Queensland? New Zealand, British Columbia, and other Canadian cases give hints, and from their “dos and don’ts” is this essential list:
- Initiation must be grassroots and multilateral, not from establishment groups or institutions.
- Start by creating a Citizens’ Assembly through a transparent and well-publicized process.
- Draw on a broad cross section of citizens, including dimensions of region, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, and socioeconomics.
- The venue should have circular seating to imbue egalitarianism.
- Their task is to extensively investigate PR to inform an educational campaign, and to determine details of how to best conform PR to the nuances of Queensland.
- Once complete, launch an educational campaign at least a year before the vote on PR, repeatedly emphasizing the credibility, trustworthiness, and egalitarian composition of the Citizens’ Assembly, echoing the transparency of its originating process.
- Six months out, conduct focus groups to determine how to best advertise PR, particularly for the last two weeks of the campaign. These should depict past ways of squashing democracy and minority groups, the forceful suppression of peaceful protests expressing legitimate concerns, and then cut to anti-PR rhetoric as its morphed form.
- Eight weeks out, set the narrative to one of real-world outcomes — pointing to New Zealand with its enhanced democracy and better government — to counter opposition’s fallacious efforts to highlight extreme or hypothetical cases, or the undesirability of complexity.
- Two weeks out, inundate media with the advertising campaign, the pinnacle focus of efforts.
In New Zealand, they first had a non-binding referendum asking if voters wanted to change to PR, without reference to details; only a “yes” triggered a following binding plebiscite asking for a change, in which the details were specified. This worked in New Zealand, but not in British Columbia, so voters should insist on:
- Either a referendum followed within a year with a binding plebiscite, or just going straight to plebiscite.
- Key to the failures in Canadian Provinces from 2005 to 2009 were the high bar set for them passing, super-majority requirements of at least 60 percent, which were meant to deter a “yes” vote. Voters must therefore insist on a simple majority of 50 percent plus 1.
Enhancing democracy
To make PR a reality, we should highlight how COVID-19 shows the value of opposition leaders’ role in providing credible alternatives in a disaster situation. Point to highly disproportionate elections in recent memory to encourage the will for change, and seize the opportunity when the will is high. Also, tap into and offer reciprocal support to PR proponents in other jurisdictions, as success in one bolsters the likelihood elsewhere.
PR improves governance and enhances democracy, a rational proposition, but proponents should be conscientious of drawing links in ways that elicit strong emotional responses. This will ultimately nudge voters in the direction that aligns with their best interests, and opposition to PR highlights a fundamental political truth: Powerful forces often want less democracy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SALIM MASAI
Salim Masai is a Research Analyst and Intern at Policy Innovation Hub studying a Masters in Public Administration at the University of British Colombia
DR NANCY SPENCER
Dr Nancy Spencer is an experienced executive, currently an active member of the Board of Wesley Mission Queensland, a large faith based state-wide community service and aged care provider. Through her Board and secretariat positions, and her work as a policy and governance advisor, she possesses expertise and experience in the governance and operations of both government and non-government organisations. This has given her valuable insights into what is required for successful outcomes and how to make the interface between the Board and the organisation work well.
Nancy’s breadth of understanding of policy, legislation, service systems and data in both the social and economic areas, allows her to push innovative, including economic, supports for social policy conundrums. She has extensive experience in quantitative and financial analysis; data matching; service system improvement and performance measurement; research and evaluation. Her previous work led to a range of significant policy and practice changes to benefit Queenslanders.
Dr Spencer is Executive In Residence in the Policy Innovation Hub.
