Winning but losing: why our electoral system needs to be re-thought

At what point can a losing party legitimately complain that the system is unfair? And when does the election result move from being unlucky, to unfair, to illegitimate? Winning 50.1 per cent compared to 49.9 per cent on 2PP, but losing the election, might be seen as the luck of the draw. But, what if you win 52, or 53 per cent? What if you win 50 per cent of the primary vote, but still lose? As we’ve seen, such scenarios are not fanciful.

One option is to follow South Australia’s lead. After the 1989 election, the Labor Government there held an inquiry. This led to electoral commissioners being required to review electoral boundaries after each election and, more notably, to take into account past voting patterns so that a party receiving a majority of the 2PP would be more likely to win a majority of seats. At the very least, this ‘fairness test’ should be emulated around the country.

In addition, there needs to be a brake on the benefits of local incumbency. The Federal Coalition has greatly increased taxpayer-funded resources for sitting MPs for staff, travel and printing costs, providing a huge advantage to sitting MPs (particularly in marginal electorates). Parties also focus their resources on these seats, allowing 'useless' votes against them to build up in the other parties' safe seats - thus making a win-but-lose outcome more likely. The ‘tyranny of the marginals’ is also skewing spending decisions and producing questionable public policy (such as the Merseyside hospital takeover). It’s time for a re-think on both the electoral allowances as well as the electoral system that makes them so important.

Ultimately, elections are meant to express the people’s will. A fair system would ensure that the party preferred by more than half the population wins government. We should look at the German or New Zealand models, which combine single member electorates with ‘top up’ seats allocated centrally to ensure that the final result in terms of seats reflects the overall voting outcome. A minimum threshold of 4 per cent could be set to reduce the proliferation of too many minor parties.

In the short term, we can only cross our fingers and hope that at this election we get what we vote for - with the party winning a majority of the vote getting a majority of the seats. It’s only fair.