In the 2013 Senate election, fully one in every four votes was cast for a party outside the main three. This resulted in the election of three senators for the Palmer United Party, and senators from each of the Democratic Labour Party, Family First, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party and the Australian Sports Party (who lost out in the WA recount).
While the share of the vote for minor parties has been increasing over the last forty years, there has been a significant spike since 2007. The minor parties now hold the balance of power in the Senate. It seemed like the time of the minor parties had arrived.
Yet the 2013 results appear unlikely to be repeated, as the major parties are set to change senate voting rules that either give minor parties a chance or have been exploited (depending on your point of view).
Lost in the chaos of the lead-up to the budget was the report of the joint standing committee on electoral matters that said the system was being gamed and recommended introducing optional preferential voting in the Senate both above and below the line. The response to this from the minor parties has been predictably negative.
A couple of points should be noted. First, there is marked difference in terms of support and policy awareness between minor parties (such as Family First, the Liberal Democrats or now Palmer United Party) and micro parties such as the Motoring Enthusiasts and Australian Sports Party.
David Leyonhjelm, Liberal Democratic Senator-elect for NSW, received 9.5% of the vote, while Family First's Bob Day received 3.8% of the vote. This is many multiples of first preference votes higher than Wayne Dropulich of the Sports Party (0.23%) or Ricky Muir of the Motoring Enthusiasts (0.5%).
Second, while most of the cross bench senators needed preferences to get over the line, the elected micro parties only occurred because they harvested a large number of preferences from diverse groups. It is hard to imagine that all of the 5,000 people who voted for the Bullet Train for Australia Party or the 1,800 who voted for the Bank Reform Party would have supported the goals of the Motoring Enthusiasts Party, ahead of say the Greens, who have a platform on those issues.
The challenge is how to reform the system to stop the gaming of the preferences system without eliminating the voices of the minor parties altogether or completely entrenching the power of the major parties.
The circus of the budget should not distract from the importance of the joint committee's reforms.
Simon Cowan is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.
Home > Commentary > Opinion > Minor parties causing a major stir
Minor parties causing a major stir
While the share of the vote for minor parties has been increasing over the last forty years, there has been a significant spike since 2007. The minor parties now hold the balance of power in the Senate. It seemed like the time of the minor parties had arrived.
Yet the 2013 results appear unlikely to be repeated, as the major parties are set to change senate voting rules that either give minor parties a chance or have been exploited (depending on your point of view).
Lost in the chaos of the lead-up to the budget was the report of the joint standing committee on electoral matters that said the system was being gamed and recommended introducing optional preferential voting in the Senate both above and below the line. The response to this from the minor parties has been predictably negative.
A couple of points should be noted. First, there is marked difference in terms of support and policy awareness between minor parties (such as Family First, the Liberal Democrats or now Palmer United Party) and micro parties such as the Motoring Enthusiasts and Australian Sports Party.
David Leyonhjelm, Liberal Democratic Senator-elect for NSW, received 9.5% of the vote, while Family First's Bob Day received 3.8% of the vote. This is many multiples of first preference votes higher than Wayne Dropulich of the Sports Party (0.23%) or Ricky Muir of the Motoring Enthusiasts (0.5%).
Second, while most of the cross bench senators needed preferences to get over the line, the elected micro parties only occurred because they harvested a large number of preferences from diverse groups. It is hard to imagine that all of the 5,000 people who voted for the Bullet Train for Australia Party or the 1,800 who voted for the Bank Reform Party would have supported the goals of the Motoring Enthusiasts Party, ahead of say the Greens, who have a platform on those issues.
The challenge is how to reform the system to stop the gaming of the preferences system without eliminating the voices of the minor parties altogether or completely entrenching the power of the major parties.
The circus of the budget should not distract from the importance of the joint committee's reforms.
Simon Cowan is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.
• Subscribe
Subscribe now and stay in the loop with our giving appeals, event alerts, newsletters and research updates.
We are always pleased to hear from you. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us here: