There will be a diminution in the Liberal membership of the State Parliament, Opposition Leader Kerin is conceding as I write.
No mention has been made in the coverage of the success of Nick Xenophon in getting what looks like 2 quotas in the Legislative Council. Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith observed that obviously the electorate find a person with passion very attractive (she rather exploits this herself). An imaginative third voice in the Upper House is critical. Whether the Family First party will succeed in getting a quota remains to be seen. They look as though they may get up on the basis of one of the Liberal's lost quotas....though it will be hard...so be it. That is (whether they admit it or not) where they draw their natural constituency. The Democrats are dead.
What a difference a day makes!
2 comments:
When will we wake up to IT? In certain constituencies,democracy has been dead for a decade if not more!
I don't know that I agree with this comment. The systems of "democracy" that we have been exposed to are not particularly democratic.
Some observations on variations of the Washminster system:
We are actually a constitutional monarchy not a democracy
The British Upper House is appointed not elected
The American President has an unelected Cabinet
Until the early 70s SA did not even have universal franchise (unless you owned property you were not automatically entitled to vote for the Leg Council)
And of course Federally it has only been since the late 60s that Aboriginal people have been eligible to vote.
My point?
At best all you get is approximations to democracy.
My major concern would not be the processes per se but the influence of the press in a one papaer town,
and the disparate amounts of money that are available which didtsorts the playing field.
Xenophon is amazing given all this, and all credit to him
Post a Comment