The Federal Electoral Reform Act 2008 is a piece of legislation currently before the Georgeland House of Commons. If passed, the law would introduce a system of proportional representation for elections to the House of Commons.
The bill was introduced into the House of Commons by Michael Elderton, leader of the Georgeland Alliance and a former Prime Minister of Georgeland. The Alliance's deputy leader, Senator Katherine Doody, has indicated she will introduce the bill into the Senate.
Provisions of the legislation[]
If passed, the Act would alter the method of elections for the House of Commons into a proportional system known as Single Transferable Vote. The key provisions of the Act are:
- The 265 House of Commons seats would be replaced by 53 seats, each with five elected members chosen through Single Transferable Vote.
- Any party that garnered 5% of the vote in any state or higher would be entitled to one additional "overhang" seat for each state in which they achieved that voting level, if they failed to win any seats of the normal type.
- Vacant seats would be filled by a "countback" by redistributing the votes of the vacating member. The party affiliation of the new member would be required to match that of the outgoing member.
- The Parliament would elect one member as its recommended appointment to the President.
- A Ministry would could only be accepted and sworn into office if it was confirmed by Parliament.
- All federal appointments made by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet would require Parliamentary approval.
Support[]
Conservatives[]
The Conservative Party of Georgeland, which currently holds a majority of Commons seats, is yet to adopt a position on the issue. Prime Minister Luke Macaulay's only response has been to say the party is "studying" the proposal.
Liberal Democrats[]
The opposition Liberal Democrats have indicated they do not support the legislation. Leader Robin Sales, in a public statement, said that the people of Georgeland have rejected proportional representation in the national referendum four years previously and that this is the wrong time to further pursue the issue.
Greens[]
The Green Party of Georgeland support the legislation.
Independents[]
Of the eight Independent members of the Parliament, five have indicated their support. Commons MPs Edwina Haggard and Andrea Perkins have declared they will vote in favour, as have Senators Jim O'Connor, Nick Mann and Ken Romani. The only independent who has said they will oppose the Act is Senator Toby Montgomery.