Page 865 - Week 03 - Thursday, 14 April 1994
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The Electoral (Amendment) Bill currently before this Assembly defines how for years to come the electors of the ACT will exercise "the right and the opportunity" outlined in the UN covenant. We are in the unique situation of being able to give effect to the Hare-Clark electoral system selected by a "free expression of the will of the electors" at the 1992 referendum.
Of course, the Hare-Clark electoral system chosen by the electors of Canberra is a proportional representation electoral system. The merits of proportional representation, as opposed to the single-member constituency model inherited from Britain, have been argued now for well over a century. A good example of this debate is contained in Thomas Hare's substantial work on proportional representation, the fourth edition of which was published in 1873. This is the work upon which Tasmanian Attorney-General Andrew Clark drew when implementing the Hare-Clark system in the 1890s.
The electors of the ACT recognised the advantages of proportional representation in the referendum of 1992, and it is now a matter of history that two out of three ACT electors chose the Hare-Clark system. What does the electorate now expect us, as its elected representatives, to do? Quite simply, it is to have the Hare-Clark system with Robson rotation, as used in the Tasmanian elections, used in the ACT. When this Bill was tabled by the Chief Minister on 16 December 1993, many members of the public voiced their concern over the provision for above-the-line voting, as did members of this Assembly. The basis for this widespread concern was simple. Above-the-line voting meant nothing more than a regressive attempt to stifle the democratic principles espoused in the Robson rotation enhancement to the Hare-Clark system which is endorsed by all parties in Tasmania and expected by the electors of the ACT to be applied in the ACT.
It is interesting to reflect on how Robson rotation first came into being. The Robson rotation modification to the Hare-Clark system was originally designed to reduce the impact of the donkey vote. The impact of the donkey vote was of particular concern to Neil Robson, who said during debate on the issue in 1977:
I ask you, how can a just representation be secured, even for a small minority of citizens, if the pathetic, apathetic 'donkey' vote influences the final result.
But Robson rotation does more than just "rearrange the donkey vote", as Terry Aulich said. It also allows the electorate, rather than an anonymous party machine, to determine which members of a party are elected. Mary Willey of the Labor Party said in the Tasmanian Assembly in the 1979 debate on the introduction of Robson rotation that Hare-Clark "lets people hold their party allegiance, but change the personnel", and the rotated ballot-paper would make that easier. Doug Lowe, in his book Price of Power, said of Robson rotation:
With this basically simple modification, the Hare-Clark method of voting became the most democratic system of Proportional Representation in the world.
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