The referendum to entrench the Hare-Clark voting system got a solid 65 per cent majority by ACT voters yesterday.
The vote went within a whisker of the 50 per cent of the enrolled vote needed by the end of counting last night and only needs a tiny fraction of the remaining uncounted vote to pass that necessary hurdle. It means that the voting system cannot be changed without a two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly or a further referendum. In effect it means that the two major parties must agree to significant changes to the system. The referendum also entrenches compulsory voting.
The key parts of the system that are entrenched are: Minimum of five members per electorate; Robson rotation; no party voting or above-the line voting; an odd number of seats per electorate; and optional preferential voting. It is the first time that Hare-Clark or compulsory voting have been entrenched in Australia. In Tasmania a simple majority of politicians can overturn it and similarly for compulsory voting elsewhere in Australia. The entrenchment referendum comes after an advisory referendum in 1992 approved the system by a 65 per cent majority. However, the Labor Government attempted to introduce a system of above-the-line party voting which was defeated in the House 9 votes to 8. The same nine Liberals and Independents then legislated for the referendum.
The Labor Party did not oppose the referendum formally supporting the Yes vote. However, it ran dead on the issue during the campaign and did not recommend a Yes vote on its how-to-vote cards. Despite the 65 per cent vote, the referendum was not a sure thing. This is because of a quirk of the Federal ACT Self-Government Act which insists that for a Yes vote to have legal effect it must be a majority of everyone on the roll, not just the formal vote. The roughly 10 per cent who do not turn up and the four per cent who vote informally are deemed to be No votes. It means that the Yes vote has to be about 58 to 59 per cent to pass, depending on the level of informal and no-shows.
Election commentator Malcolm Mackerras said that the Yes vote disproved the myth that Australians always vote No at referendums. He said that a No vote would win only if there was a well-resourced No case put. The usual trend was for Australians to be well-disposed to vote Yes initially and then swing to No if there was a campaign. “”In the ACT this time there was no well-resourced No campaign and there was a big of a Yes campaign, so the Yes won,” he said. The Yes was supported strongly by the Liberals and the main independents and Greens.