A DEARTH of candidates for upcoming Legislative Council elections shows the upper house is ripe for reform, Labor leader Bryan Green says. With just two days until nominations close, there have been no challengers announced in the seats of Derwent and Mersey, held by Labor’s Craig Farrell and independent Mike Gaffney respectively. Mr Green said it was a poor reflection on the electoral system. ‘‘It really does say something about our democracy that candidates are elected unopposed for a six-year term – you would hope that there would be people wanting to put themselves forward,’’ he said. ‘‘But it’s the nature of the upper house – people don’t think they can beat the incumbent because of the six-year term and the profile they have.’’ The seats of Derwent, Mersey and Windermere – which has at least four declared candidates – are due to head to the polls on May 2. Mr Green said rolling six-year terms meant it was hard to hold MLCs to account. ‘‘Often, decisions are made and people don’t have to face scrutiny for four years or so,’’ he said. Labor state secretary John Dowling has put a submission into a review of the state’s electoral system describing Hare-Clark voting and the Legislative Council as ‘‘inconsistent’’ with Westminster parliaments. Mr Green said he agreed that there was a need for reform across both parliamentary chambers. ‘‘There’s probably scope to see us come together more,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve got 25 members in the lower house, 15 members in the upper house. ‘‘Maybe around both houses there are better ways of debating various issues.’’ The Tasmanian Liberals last year passed a motion calling for an investigation into a transition away from multi-member electorates in the lower house. The state government has ruled out changing or reviewing the Hare-Clark system.
A DEARTH of candidates for upcoming Legislative Council elections shows the upper house is ripe for reform, Labor leader Bryan Green says.
With just two days until nominations close, there have been no challengers announced in the seats of Derwent and Mersey, held by Labor’s Craig Farrell and independent Mike Gaffney respectively.
Mr Green said it was a poor reflection on the electoral system.
‘‘It really does say something about our democracy that candidates are elected unopposed for a six-year term – you would hope that there would be people wanting to put themselves forward,’’ he said.
‘‘But it’s the nature of the upper house – people don’t think they can beat the incumbent because of the six-year term and the profile they have.’’
The seats of Derwent, Mersey and Windermere – which has at least four declared candidates – are due to head to the polls on May 2.
Mr Green said rolling six-year terms meant it was hard to hold MLCs to account.
‘‘Often, decisions are made and people don’t have to face scrutiny for four years or so,’’ he said.
Labor state secretary John Dowling has put a submission into a review of the state’s electoral system describing Hare-Clark voting and the Legislative Council as ‘‘inconsistent’’ with Westminster parliaments.
Mr Green said he agreed that there was a need for reform across both parliamentary chambers.
‘‘There’s probably scope to see us come together more,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve got 25 members in the lower house, 15 members in the upper house.
‘‘Maybe around both houses there are better ways of debating various issues.’’
The Tasmanian Liberals last year passed a motion calling for an investigation into a transition away from multi-member electorates in the lower house.
The state government has ruled out changing or reviewing the Hare-Clark system.
