Editorial:
Changing the rules

When you cannot win by the rules — change the rules. This old adage is 
going to be implemented by the major parties in NSW following the huge 
number of parties which have been registered under the present rules to 
contest the coming State elections. No less than 80 parties have nominated 
candidates for the Legislative Council, the State's Upper House.

Moves are also being made in the Federal Parliament to amend the rules. 
They have already been changed in Tasmania with the express purpose of 
cutting down the representation of the Greens in that State.

For some years now it has been apparent that the disillusionment with the 
major parties has been spreading. In last year's Federal elections between 
20-25 per cent of voters gave their first preference vote to parties other 
than the ALP and the Coalition. This resulted in neither of the major 
parties being able to command a majority. The same situation exists in the 
present NSW Upper House and could be further revealed in the election on 
March 27. In the 1995 NSW Upper House election the ALP received 35.25 per 
cent of the first preference vote and the Coalition parties, 38.49 per 
cent.

However, disillusionment is not the only factor. There are strong 
indications that the major parties have themselves set up "feeder" parties 
in an attempt to channel preferences to their candidates. This device has 
added to the total number of parties and groups in the field.

Some political forces have also set out to deliberately discredit the 
present electoral regulations by setting up parties and groups to help 
justify changes. One well-known right-wing ALP figure is reported in the 
daily press to have set up a party with a ridiculous name to show how easy 
it is to manipulate the present laws.

The major parties are determined to shore up the two-party system by which 
the ruling class favours one and then the other of the parties while it 
remains untouched by the political see-saw. "Governments come and 
governments go but we go on forever" is the attitude of the big 
corporations to the political process.

Both Bob Carr (Labor) and Chikarovski (Coalition) have already announced 
their intention to change the electoral law and they are likely to see eye-
to-eye on what they want done. Their objective is the same — to maintain 
two-party control over the electoral system.

Rather than tackle the real reasons for the growing disillusionment they 
will introduce measures which aim to exclude other parties from the 
electoral process. They will increase the number of names of members that a 
Party must submit to receive registration (at present 200) and also 
increase the deposit for each candidate. A Federal Liberal Party member has 
suggested that a Party must also receive a threshold percentage of votes 
before the preferences of other parties will be allocated to it.

These administrative measures to bastardise the electoral rules in their 
favour will only add to the discredit of the major parties even if, for a 
time, changes help maintain their control.

The electoral system should be further democratised not restricted.

The introduction of proportional representation is the key to this while 
maintaining compulsory, preferential voting. The creation of much larger 
electorates which elect a number of representatives on the proportional 
voting system, similar to that in Tasmania, is much more democratic than 
the present single member constituencies. These larger electorates should 
be created on the principle of "one vote, one value".

Another necessary principle is the right of recall of those candidates who 
do not perform and break their promises.

Taxpayer funding of candidates should be abolished with parties required to 
finance their campaigns from their own resources. At present in NSW 
candidates who receive at least four per cent of the total of first 
preference vote (or who are elected) receive 48.3 cents per vote (1995 
figure). This pours millions of dollars into the funds of the ALP and the 
Coalition parties.

These proposals of the Communist Party aim to democratise the electoral 
process. The intended amendments to electoral laws by the Coalition and the 
ALP are intended to restrict democratic rights.