Monday, November 29, 2010



Victorian state elections

The Australian state of Victoria went to the polls over the weekend to elect a new state government. The result seems to have been a narrow victory for the coalition over the 11-year government of Premier John Brumby. At the same time we also have yet another demonstration of what is wrong with Australian politics. From the ABC's election results:

Party%voteSeats% Seats
Liberal38.23539.8
Labour37.04146.6
Greens10.600.0
National6.71011.4
Others7.500.0
While there are half a million postal ballots still to be counted, which could make a difference to the outcome, that massive disproportionality and the lack of any real connection between the votes cast and the seats gained shows that the system is deeply unfair. This has to change. Australia needs proportional representation, and the sooner, the better.