Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters chair James McGrath has floated another reform bubble, this time proposing that parliamentarians should be prevented from resigning from their parties under pain of either facing a by-election or being replaced by the nominee of the party for which they were elected. The Australian helpfully summarises recent situations where this would have applied: “Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus from the Palmer United Party, Cory Bernardi and Julia Banks from the Liberal Party, Fraser Anning and Rod Culleton from One Nation and Steve Martin from the Jacqui Lambie Network”. University of New South Wales constitutional law expert George Williams is quoted noting potential constitutional issues, particularly in relation to the lower house.
The proposal brings to mind the passage in New Zealand last year of what is colloquially known as the “waka jumping bill”, insisted upon by Winston Peters of New Zealand First as part of his coalition agreement with Labour after the 2017 election. This requires a constituency MP who quits their party to face a by-election, while party list MPs must vacate their seats and have them filled by the next candidate along from the list at the election. The move was poorly received by academics and the country’s Human Rights Commissioner, as it effectively gives party leaders the ability to dispense with troublemakers. It was also noted that Peters himself broke away from the National Party to form New Zealand First in 1990, but changed his tune after a split in his own party in 1998. However, the McGrath proposal would seem to be quite a lot less pernicious in that it would only apply to those who leave their parties of their own volition.
In other news, I had a paywalled article in Crikey on Tuesday regarding the YouGov methodological overhaul that was discussed here on Sunday, which said things like this:
Of course, transparency alone will not be sufficient for the industry to recover the strong reputation it held until quite recently. That will require runs on the board in the form of more-or-less accurate pre-election polls, for which no opportunity will emerge until the Queensland state election still over a year away. It’s far from certain that YouGov will prove able to get better results by dropping the telephone component of its polling, notwithstanding that phone polling is less conducive to the kind of detailed demographic parsing that it apparently has in mind. Nonetheless, the movements the pollster records over time within demographic and geographic sub-samples will almost certainly offer insights into the shifting sands of public opinion, even if skepticism will remain as to how it sees the numbers combining in aggregate.
I’m not sure when exactly we will see the fruits of YouGov’s approach, but we’re due some sort of Newspoll result on Sunday or Monday, and the fortnightly Essential Research falls due on Tuesday – we’re still waiting for the latter to resume voting intention, but I was told a little while ago it would happen soon.
I think I saw some of the masses last night.
They were in Swan Street. They did not look like they desperately wanted to join the Greens, or, at the Greens’ urging, the Labour Party.
The Informal Party is rallying the masses in the UK !
Rex Douglas says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 5:06 pm
I’ve heard them say, “hello” quite a lot.
C@t
Much as I love and admire you, please delete the word ‘reigns’ from your vocabulary. A horse is guided by the reins.
lizzie says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 5:11 pm
… unless it rains. 🙂
Andrew_Earlwood
says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 4:41 pm
If there is some non union based woke left wing way to win back low information – low interest voters in seats like Lindsay, Robertson, Forde, Petrie, Longman, Herbert, Flynn, Dixon, Capricornia, Chisholm, La Trobe, Bass, Braddon, Boothby, Swan, Hasluck (not to mention whilst holding onto seats like Macquarie, Gilmore, Lilley, Hunter, Lyons etc), then I’d be genuinely interested in seeing it all laid out.
___________________________________________
I’m not going to speak for the non-Victorian seats, but Chisholm is far from being a ‘low information’ electorate. On the current distribution the ALP shouldn’t even be thinking of getting La Trobe anyway.
Barney
I thought of that, but didn’t want to complicate the thought. 🙂
Rex
Unlike you, I have never heard Sam Newman or Mark Latham say ‘woke’ many times.
though this could be because, unlike you, i’m not welded to SkyFoxNews – in fact by a fortunate self-selection of media consumed, I am never confronted nor affronted by these 2.
Everyone should try this
nath
says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 5:16 pm
Andrew_Earlwood
says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 4:41 pm
If there is some non union based woke left wing way to win back low information – low interest voters in seats like Lindsay, Robertson, Forde, Petrie, Longman, Herbert, Flynn, Dixon, Capricornia, Chisholm, La Trobe, Bass, Braddon, Boothby, Swan, Hasluck (not to mention whilst holding onto seats like Macquarie, Gilmore, Lilley, Hunter, Lyons etc), then I’d be genuinely interested in seeing it all laid out.
___________________________________
In any case I wouldn’t think being a union based party would help in any of these electorates. I can see it being a disadvantage in quite a few of them.
nath, are you suggesting Labor should be going after the ‘woke’ vote?
“As soon as the ALP cuts ties with its vested interests they might have a chance at producing and selling a policy manifest that appeals to the wider masses”
Mnnnn, sounds exciting. What does it actually mean? I know that the low interest low information voters of Lindsay et. all. are all agog at the prospect of Labor turning itself inside out to metamorphose into either the Greens or Reason, but what IS the policy manifest would follow and bring them all home to the promised land? Surely, someone with the obvious smarts that you demonstrate time and again on bludger must know …
Yawn?
sprocket_
says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 5:21 pm
nath, are you suggesting Labor should be going after the ‘woke’ vote?
__________________________
sure, they should be aiming to get over 50% of the 2pp vote. that means building a voting coalition that includes the woke and the woke-ish.
Andrew_Earlwood @ #1213 Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – 5:21 pm
As soon as Labor learns how to sell itself and it’s remarkable suite of achievements in government it’ll remain the tories’ whipping boy.
As I’ve said before, how does the party responsible for creating modern Australia find itself in this position.
“I’m not going to speak for the non-Victorian seats, but Chisholm is far from being a ‘low information’ electorate. On the current distribution the ALP shouldn’t even be thinking of getting La Trobe anyway”
OK, nath – I’m prepared to bow to your knowledge of all things Melbourne and Victoria. I acknowledge that the garden state isn’t exactly letting the progressive team down anyway. So scratch La Trobe and Chisholm.
That only leaves the parlourous state that progressives of any stripe (whether it be Labor, Greens, Reason or anybody else) are in in all the other outer rim and regional centre seats in the rest of the country. …
“As soon as Labor learns how to sell itself and it’s remarkable suite of achievements in government it’ll remain the tories’ whipping boy”
In other words, Mundo, its all just a marketing exercise. You are not exactly value adding are you …
mundo
says:
.
As I’ve said before, how does the party responsible for creating modern Australia find itself in this position.
____________________________
It all started with those who said ‘don’t give the coalition a club to bash labor with”
Re: The Tampa
Labor leader Kim Beazley pointed out that there wasn’t a “cigarette paper” of difference between the two major parties on refugee policy.
No I think clearly Chisholm is gettable. But 36% have a bachelors degree or higher compared to the Australian average of 22%. The Greens got 12% at the last election which gave the ALP a chance to take it. My point was that it’s not ‘low information’.
Using the term ‘woke’ is rightwing thing? 😮
https://theconversation.com/where-woke-came-from-and-why-marketers-should-think-twice-before-jumping-on-the-social-activism-bandwagon-122713
If anything many people (that’s people of all political persuasions) now use the term woke in derisive fashion because people like Rex have abused it as a virtue signal. It isn’t the Sam Newmans and Mark Lathams of the world who have debased the term of its intended meaning, but pious virtue signallers largely on the left.
mundo, as always, makes a lot of sense with his laser like focus on the flaws in Labor’s strategy.
I understand this is where he gets his ideas.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1450955/Men-dance-trousers-Eagle-Rock-Daddy-Cool.html
Perhaps the voters of Chisholm would appreciate a clear Labor climate policy that doesn’t wedge itself by its bowing to the coal boosters.
sprocket_ @ #1179 Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – 2:44 pm
I keep wondering when the penny will drop for Giuliani and he realises that he does Trump no favours when he appears on TV.
And looking at the image of Giuliani, I can’t help but recall the colourful description of him as “Trump’s bizarre homunculus”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kD1zubg3cA
😆
Boerwar @ #1187 Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – 4:52 pm
The Greens version is, I toke therefore I am.
Confessions @ #1224 Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – 5:37 pm
Giuliani is a distraction monkey specifically trained to throw poo at Trump’s opponents.
Chisholm’s current boundaries make it a Liberal seat. Its close margin probably flatters the ALP a bit.
😆
Is it too late to get Folau back in the team?
Mexicanbeemer
says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 5:50 pm
Chisholm’s current boundaries make it a Liberal seat. Its close margin probably flatters the ALP a bit.
__________________________________
the margin is the margin.
lizzie @ #1206 Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – 5:11 pm
I blame my American keyboard. And stream of consciousness. 😆
“I think I saw some of the masses last night.
They were in Swan Street. They did not look like they desperately wanted to join the Greens, or, at the Greens’ urging, the Labour Party.”
———-
Richard Di Natale is a known Tigers fan I thought
FWIW it seems Richmond are also the first AFL club to join up for the Sports for Climate Action Initiative
https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2019-09-18/richmond-partner-sports-for-climate-action-initiative
Seems some are listening to messages about considering climate and environment in all aspect of life and culture
“It all started with those who said ‘don’t give the coalition a club to bash labor with”
Re: The Tampa
Labor leader Kim Beazley pointed out that there wasn’t a “cigarette paper” of difference between the two major parties on refugee policy.”
That MAY be where it all started for you nath, but would you care to explain – step by step – how Labor positioning on itself on Tampa and everything that followed lost Labor the outer rim and regions?
I reckon there may be something in what you say, but for the opposite reasons than you probably think. If you think you are in any way on a unity ticket with the lost voters in the outer burbs on refugees I have bridge to sell you.
C@t
I’ve forced my keyboard into Eng/UK spelling. I wish newspapers would do the same.
“Perhaps the voters of Chisholm would appreciate a clear Labor climate policy that doesn’t wedge itself by its bowing to the coal boosters.”
Yeah. Spot on. That’s exactly why 50.1% of the Chisholm voters preferred Gladys: it was her clear climate policy that didn’t wedge itself by bowing to coal boasters.
Y’ll Know that makes sense …
Try harder, Rex
C@t:
The Republicans set up fundraising efforts off the back of the impeachment announcement, almost immediately after it was announced by Pelosi. I am in no doubt about the presence of their online army.
Andrew_Earlwood
says:
That MAY be where it all started for you nath, but would you care to explain – step by step – how Labor positioning on itself on Tampa and everything that followed lost Labor the outer rim and regions?
____________________________
Simply because they bought into Howard’s game of making it into earth shattering news that refugees were arriving. Beazley should have laughed with scorn at Howard trying to win the election off the Tampa. He should have said that asylum seekers will be treated with respect even if they are determined not to be refugees. He should have said that he won’t be locking up kids. Only a coward and a sadist would do that. And then even if he had lost he could have stood tall. He lost anyway and looked a coward for it.
Quoll @ #1235 Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – 5:53 pm
Richmond supporters are just Collingwood supporters without teeth.
lizzie @ #1234 Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – 5:58 pm
lizzie, I would do that in a heartbeat except the Shift keys are all American and I can’t remember their UK equivalents. 🙁
Nath
Sure a margin is a margin but I find that the TPP can be misleading particularly if one party has been in office for a few terms. Before the election Chisholm’s margin was estimated at around 3% and this seat has shown loyalty to sitting MP’s only to then swing against that party once that sitting MP departs. Had Banks recontested I think she would have held her margin or had a swing to her.
C@t
I won’t even describe what I fear will happen.
Mexicanbeemer
says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 6:06 pm
Nath
Sure a margin is a margin but I find that the TPP can be misleading particularly if one party has been in office for a few terms.
Before the election Chisholm’s margin was estimated at around 3% and this seat has shown loyalty to sitting MP’s only to then swing against that party once that sitting MP departs. Had Banks recontested I think she would have held her margin or had a swing to her.
____________________________________
I think it just depends on the nature of Banks’ personal vote. It just might have included a portion of the Greek population of Chisholm, which naturally moved back to the ALP after she left the seat. I’m just saying that any seat within a 1-2% margin is in play.
C@t
I understand. Took me a while, but I was determined.
‘fess,
I’m just not sure that this t-shirt has the wow factor for Trump:
This, otoh, I could get behind and buy if I were American:
🙂
But yes Mexican I agree the incumbency factor might help Gladys next time. We will see.
SNL today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4shehabtZ4
Nath
In practice any seat under 1% or 2% is in play, and as a government ages then I would add seats further up the pendulum maybe as far as 3% to 5% would be in play depending on its demographics. Chisholm can and does change hands but the thing to remember is there will be a redistribution before the next poll.
Mexicanbeemer
says:
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 6:13 pm
Nath
In practice any seat under 1% or 2% is in play, and as a government ages then I would add seats further up the pendulum maybe as far as 3% to 5% would be in play and depending on its demographics. Chisholm can and does change hands but the thing to remember is there will be a redistribution before the next poll.
_____________________________________________
which will be very exciting!
C@t:
OTOH I don’t think it was a good idea to let Sean Spicer be the face of your fundraising effort, even despite Dancing with the Stars 😆
:large
Wallabies v Wales.
Loser will likely play England in the quarter finals 🙁