The Australian totalitarian megathread - She won't be right mate.

[thefreshmaker]

2. Nah the current system is mostly fine. Thank goodness we don't use the backwards voting system the US or UK use (First past the post)

There's really nothing majorly wrong with the voting system in Australia. It's the lack of real choice and the absolute stranglehold the media has on normie minds.

I think there is something wrong when there's an average of 56,959 Labor voters per representative, 93,011 Liberal voters per representative, and 1,890,004 Greens voters per representative, or where the Liberals receive 92% of the votes Labor did but only 46% of the seats Labor received. The greens got 35% of the votes that Labor did and a shockingly low 1% of representatives in parliament.

The advantage of our system is that everyone at least gets a piece of the pie - the issue of how that pie gets divided still exists. It's all well and good to divide the seats relatively equally population wise, but it's very much double plus ungood if the seats are arranged such that entire voting blocs can be completely shunted from the political system because those voters are more isolated rather than pooled together in districts.

The advantage of the American system is that alongside the executive election there is a separate legislative election, and it's entirely possible to have states vote to be represented by one party and have the country ruled by another. The majority gets a victory regardless of the proportion of the vote, but you can be sure that the vast majority of elections result in the will of the majority and a relatively equal pairing of elected officials.

The disadvantage of the UK system is that you elect both the executive and legislature in one go, like we do, with the disadvantage of FPP. One party can get 20% of the population's vote and 85% of the parliamentary positions.

We need to find a way to effectively square the circle, because this and the 2022 election resulted in a very vast gap between the results and actual votes.

 

[Cassius Crayfish]

The advantage of the American system is that alongside the executive election there is a separate legislative election,

This is not an advantage.

 

[Star Spangled Bogger]

Good news! Karen Tax has been scrapped for farmers.

Bad news. ABC have a fucking 'Stabbings' category, a whole fucking category called Stabbings. Fucking lunacy.

 

[thefreshmaker]

This is not an advantage.

Is the current system where we have no say over the executive better somehow?

 

[Cassius Crayfish]

Is the current system where we have no say over the executive better somehow?

Yes, because we do have a say over the executive. We vote for them. The splitting of the legislature from the executive as being a necessity of good government is an invention of an 18th century theorist.

 

[Along Came Jones]

The sole reason boomercons can't stand our voting system is that they can't be fucked to research it for more than five minutes.

 

[Premium Gonzo]

I convinced a guy at work to read up on Terry Davis. Now the guy is going down the rabbit hole of the Temple OS king. He randomly sends me emails asking about book recommendations on him.

This is the funniest thing i've done in awhile because i think he's a proper wokey.

 

[Flaming Dumpster]

I think there is something wrong when there's an average of 56,959 Labor voters per representative, 93,011 Liberal voters per representative, and 1,890,004 Greens voters per representative, or where the Liberals receive 92% of the votes Labor did but only 46% of the seats Labor received.

Australia isn't a democracy. Personally I'm not convinced that if you somehow made it perfectly 1:1 votes per representative, it'd actually fix anything, Also is that vote per representative based on 1st preference? Because the fact that Greens 1st preferences translated into nothing and Labor gets so few "voters per representative" is likely from Greens votes getting absorbed by Labor as their 2nd choice, which is how preferential voting is intended to work.

If I had a wand and could change Australia's constitution at will, I'd get rid of compulsory and universal voting in a stroke then make voting a privilege only enjoyed by employed White people.

 

[thefreshmaker]

Personally I'm not convinced that if you somehow made it perfectly 1:1 votes per representative, it'd actually fix anything

I don't think it would, but it would certainly equalise power rather than handing a total blow out victory to a party which only eeked ahead of the others.

 

[Mr Clark]

You need to get the right votes in the right places, hence seats based on geogrpahical area. An overall tally of votes country wide would be godawful because cities will outvote regions and the interests of a inner city voter (who has apartment density) is very different to that of farmers in rural areas.

The problem really is that party politics binds MPs to party voting so even though your elected official should represent the interests of their electorate and bring their local issues to the forefront, that falls by the wayside for party and commonwealth politics. So state or council then? Goodluck. Same issues or no real power to effect change.

Democracy is the least worst option because it just maintains status quo until it slowly slides down a steep hill whilst other systems often jump off a cliff. Theres a reason why in times of crisis (and i mean real crisis) authoritarian governments flourish whilst in peace, democracies do.

 

[Flaming Dumpster]

I don't think it would, but it would certainly equalise power rather than handing a total blow out victory to a party which only eeked ahead of the others.

You didn't answer my question whether your data was sourced from 1st preferences, but since your numbers exactly match my basic arithmetic using the primary vote table on Wikipedia, it seems that's the case. Therefore the calculation is meaningless, you're ignoring the nuance of preferential voting. If anything, it just shows that the Greens would be a spoiler party without preferential voting.

A fairer calculation would be based on 2PP data, which shows Labor ahead by a little over 10% overall. Labor received ~89,587 votes per seat meanwhile Coalition at ~157,450 per seat. Which still seems unfair on the face of it, but it's just the reality of a system based around seats and not people. In a true democracy the entire country would be forever ruled by cockroaches in Sydney and Melbourne more so than it already is.

How do you feel about the fact that every state has 12 senators regardless of its population? By your reasoning that's incredibly unequal and NSW/VIC alone should have a controlling share of the senate.

 

[Salt_Merchant]

Seems silly to use first preference data

Given a lot of people vote greens free in the knowledge they are actually voting Labor due to preferences they just protest vote for more action on climate change or gaza

If you made it simply one non preferential voting thr green vote would crater and Labors would skyrocket

 

[thefreshmaker]

How do you feel about the fact that every state has 12 senators regardless of its population? By your reasoning that's incredibly unequal and NSW/VIC alone should have a controlling share of the senate.

I would feel fine, because that is a tier of government which is clear about it's purpose, you get an equal representation regardless.

The House is at least ostensibly supposed to represent the population, but when you get results like these it brings it into question.

 

[GradeAGobbleDeeGook]

a critically endangered species from VIC has now been spotted in NSW for the first time in god knows how long
this possum species was not extinct in VIC, only extinct in NSW, but has now been caught on camera traps in mount Kosciuszko National Park
this species is now thought to be, once again, in both NSW and VIC, though their population hangs by a thread

Critically endangered possum found in second state

https://citynews.com.au/2025/critically-endangered-possum-found-in-second-state/

(all the fucking good articles are paywalled, had to go with this piece of shit)

 

[Salt_Merchant]

a critically endangered species from VIC has now been spotted in NSW for the first time in god knows how long
this possum species was not extinct in VIC, only extinct in NSW, but has now been caught on camera traps in mount Kosciuszko National Park
this species is now thought to be, once again, in both NSW and VIC, though their population hangs by a thread


View attachment 7436418
View attachment 7436425
View attachment 7436426

https://citynews.com.au/2025/critically-endangered-possum-found-in-second-state/

(all the fucking good articles are paywalled, had to go with this piece of shit)

They've also just recently started a breeding program

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-31/leadbeaters-possums-breeding-recovery-program-victoria/105346558

 

[Swagmaster69]

Apparently this is the first election in a very long time, that the Lib/Nat's did not pick up a 3rd spot in the Senate, from any State or Territory.

 

[Salt_Merchant]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/greens-senator-dorinda-cox-joins-labor/105368028

Greens senator has defected and joined labor.

considering the vast majority of people who vote in the senate vote above the line (so they are just voting for parties not individual senate candidates) shes effectively just disenfranchised all those people who voted greens for WA senate

apparently this is because shes likely to be kicked out of the number 1 spot on the greens ticket due to staff turnover.

also, i find it amusing for Abanese to hint that Senator Payman should quit after defecting to the cross bench because labour politicians are elected"with an ALP next to [their] name." but meanwhile hes just gobbled up this greens senator to shore up his position in the senate no questions asked.

 

[dumb squid]

Made me chuckle
Nooticer
archive

 

[Premium Gonzo]

View attachment 7445911

Made me chuckle
Nooticer
archive

why'd you post the censored version?

 

[dumb squid]

That's just what was sent to me, i think uncensored N I G G E R S is on both the links.