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I quite enjoy the chaos of minor party Senate preferencing, and I think it's an overall good for democracy.  Voters can check the party preference lists (which are submitted to the election commission), or vote below the line and avoid the lists entirely.  And as far as I can tell, many of the proposed improvements to Senate voting seem to me likely to further entrench the major  parties and decrease political diversity.  

As for the Wikileaks party, it seems to me that (a) Assange isn't really suited to lead a party with a democratic governing structure and (b) wikileaks was infected with the absolutely incendiary hatred some Australians have for the Greens.  (Greg Barns is no friend to the Greens.  Eg: "The court action by Gunns is not about silencing protesters, writes Greg Barns"  http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/12/20/1103391697956.html )  

The Pirate Party offered a really marked contrast of transparent and democratic political processes.   (See:  http://pirateparty.org.au/2013/08/18/preferencing-statement-for-federal-election-2013/ )
They've even got their pairwise comparison table up.  (And their window into the soap opera of the Australian Democrats)

(disclosure - I am a member of no political party)

by External Student on Sun Sep 8th, 2013 at 10:34:33 PM EST
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Among the reforms, the one that would least affect political diversity would be preferential voting above the line. Since people would be most inclined to engage in preferential voting above the line if they got wind of shonky preference deals by their first preference party, it would substantially reduce the appeal of preference deals across wide ideological gulfs.

As far as a 1/10th of a quota threshold, that is about 1.5% of the vote, which is a lower threshold than any proportional representation system I am aware of in Europe (though I am far from an expert on the subject) 4% and up seem to be more normal thresholds, and are compatible with quite diverse Parliamentary party coalitions.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sun Sep 8th, 2013 at 11:05:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Assange isn't really suited to lead a party with a democratic governing structure

Mild understatement... Assange is best suited to leading a sect.

My introduction to preferential voting was as a guest of NSW Young Labor in the early 1980s (at that time, I was president of NZ Labour Youth). Concerning elections within the ALP, it was not a pretty sight, and left me with a profound and lasting distaste for the system.

The people I hung out with were predominantly of Marxist-Leninist cast. One exception was Anthony Albanese, Rudd's ephemeral deputy prime minister. He had just been elected Immigration officer on the university executive, and was a target of ridicule in our ethnically-diverse group because he didn't even speak Italian. Within our circle he was known as "the bourgeois moralist".

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon Sep 9th, 2013 at 05:54:30 AM EST
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I imagine that exposure to NSW Labor's take on any system would sour you on that system. From my sometime observation of them over the ten years I was in NSW, they are a milk-curdling bunch.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Mon Sep 9th, 2013 at 07:28:27 AM EST
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