WA Upper House reform slammed as ‘a betrayal of trust’ for regional voters

Mining and Pastoral MLC Neil Thomson says the State Government’s Upper House electoral reform is “a betrayal of trust” for regional residents who voted for the party based on COVID success. WA’s Upper House is set to be completely overhauled in the biggest ever reform of how the State’s politicians are elected — and will abolish regional specific MPs creating one state-wide electorate. The new system was recommended by a Ministerial Expert Committee on electoral reform chaired by former WA Governor Malcolm McCusker, and legislation enacting the changes was introduced to Parliament today. Premier Mark McGowan said the review was initiated in the wake of the “clearly undemocratic” 2021 election result, which saw Daylight Savings Party Candidate Wilson Tucker elected despite receiving only 98 first preference votes. “The Upper House is broken, the system is broken. Today is a historic day for democracy and fairness in Western Australia,” he said. “Someone worth six times someone else is not the way Australia is. We don't have that view of our citizens.” Ahead of the election, Mr McGowan repeatedly said electoral reform was “not on the agenda”. It’s a move Mining and Pastoral MLC Neil Thomson said was a betrayal of regional voters’ trust. “The premier made it clear multiple times when asked prior to the election it was not on his agenda,” he said. “The Labor Party have used their popularity among regional voters from COVID to blind-side them and take away their representation.” Mr Thomson said the premier’s claim regional representation was enhanced by the reform was “ridiculous”. “The day-to-day lives and issues facing regional WA are far different than those living in metro areas,” he said. “To take-away the seats representing important and unique areas of regional WA and then try to tell country people they’re getting a better deal is just silly.” “We should be demanding to hear from those Labor MPs who have had their seat abolished — we should hear what they think about this reform and whether they’ve spoken to their constituents. Under the reform, one additional MP would also be added to the Upper House — taking the total number from 36 to 37 — in a bid to eliminate future voting deadlocks. The system would mirror how politicians are elected to the NSW and SA Legislative Councils and spell an end to the malapportionment that currently means votes cast in the bush can be worth up to six times those in the city. But unlike when NSW adopted similar electoral reform in 1978, Premier Mark McGowan said no referendum would be held to determine whether the changes had the support of the WA voting public. Joining the chorus of voices against the changes, WALGA deputy president Karen Chappel said the shift would align election of MLC’s to favour the imbalance of voters living in the metropolitan area. “The concept of one vote one value has a logic as a theoretical exercise but in practice runs the real risk of disenfranchising regional communities,” she said. “It ignores the unique attributes of WA as an electoral region, in particular our vast distances and extremes of population density that is unlike anywhere else. “The result of this change will inevitably be even fewer MPs based in the regions and as a result, country people having to travel even further to be heard and participate in democracy.” She said consequently concerns of the regions would be diluted but more importantly access to Members of Parliament would be severely curtailed for regional West Australians. Opposition Leader Mia Davies labelled the review “a sham from the outset” and an “attack by this Labor Government on regional Western Australia”. “This Premier denied again and again prior to the election that electoral reform was on the agenda,” Ms Davies said. “Imagine making this your priority in the midst of a pandemic, with a health crisis and a housing crisis and a skills crisis.” In effect the change means a party would win a seat for approximately every 45,000 votes it receives in the Legislative Council. Securing just over 50 per cent of the total vote would return 19 of the 37 members, the clear majority required to pass legislation.