http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/electoral-laws/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-ditch-preferential-voting-but-only-in-the-house/ If our election on 21 August had been held under British, Canadian, Indian or American rules, we wouldn’t have had to wait. We would have known the results that evening.  It would have been a landslide to the Coalition.  Their majority would have been about the same size as that of the Rudd government. The three independents would have had no role in the formation of the government, and neither the Green MP nor Mr. Willkie would have been there. There is no perfect electoral system, and none is sacrosanct. Politicians being human, they prefer the system which they think will favour them. But circumstances change. What favours a party at one time can disadvantage them at another.  penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-ditch-preferential-voting-but-only-in-the-house/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-ditch-preferential-voting-but-only-in-the-house/#item4183 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Australia has one of the best democracies in the world and it’s something we should be immensely proud of. Our democratic system is one which encourages everyone to be involved in the political process, and thus shape the future of this great nation. However, during this year’s South Australian election the Labor Party threw our whole system in jeopardy. Instead of contesting the election in a fair and open manner, instead of putting faith in their own policies to capture voter support, they chose to engage in a deceptive and misleading campaign by impersonating another party. It was a disgraceful act and one which bought the whole integrity of our electoral system to its knees. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-family-first-farce-that-shamed-our-democracy/ Australia has one of the best democracies in the world and it’s something we should be immensely proud of. Our democratic system is one which encourages everyone to be involved in the political process, and thus shape the future of this great nation. However, during this year’s South Australian election the Labor Party threw our whole system in jeopardy. Instead of contesting the election in a fair and open manner, instead of putting faith in their own policies to capture voter support, they chose to engage in a deceptive and misleading campaign by impersonating another party. It was a disgraceful act and one which bought the whole integrity of our electoral system to its knees. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-family-first-farce-that-shamed-our-democracy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-family-first-farce-that-shamed-our-democracy/#item3087 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Australia has one of the best democracies in the world and it’s something we should be immensely proud of. Our democratic system is one which encourages everyone to be involved in the political process, and thus shape the future of this great nation. However, during this year’s South Australian election the Labor Party threw our whole system in jeopardy. Instead of contesting the election in a fair and open manner, instead of putting faith in their own policies to capture voter support, they chose to engage in a deceptive and misleading campaign by impersonating another party. It was a disgraceful act and one which bought the whole integrity of our electoral system to its knees. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clean-up-our-electoral-laws-now/ Coalition Senator Michael Ronaldson decries the current mixed funding system of elections in his post on the Punch last week. Early last year the newly elected Government introduced the Commonwealth Electoral Amendments (Political Donations and Other Measures) Bill 2009 to the Senate to make political donations more transparent. However the bill was defeated by Liberal Senators who did not want to clean up our campaign finance system. Australia has a very clean electoral system by world standards. While we don’t hear complaints in Australia that elections have been rigged, the funding system is in need of some reform. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clean-up-our-electoral-laws-now/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clean-up-our-electoral-laws-now/#item2229 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Australia has one of the best democracies in the world and it’s something we should be immensely proud of. Our democratic system is one which encourages everyone to be involved in the political process, and thus shape the future of this great nation. However, during this year’s South Australian election the Labor Party threw our whole system in jeopardy. Instead of contesting the election in a fair and open manner, instead of putting faith in their own policies to capture voter support, they chose to engage in a deceptive and misleading campaign by impersonating another party. It was a disgraceful act and one which bought the whole integrity of our electoral system to its knees. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-pay-the-price-of-buying-access-in-a-democracy/ Can our politicians win elections based on good old-fashioned debate and sound policy, or will they continue their crass cash contests of aggressive marketing campaigns bank-rolled by the wealthy? And once in office, how can we prevent politicians coming under undue influence from donors at the expense of the interests of their constituents and the broader public? Until recently, reforming the system of political funding has been the elephant in the room for our esteemed elected representatives. They’ve been acutely aware there is a problem, but reluctant to talk about it. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-pay-the-price-of-buying-access-in-a-democracy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-pay-the-price-of-buying-access-in-a-democracy/#item1766 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Australia has one of the best democracies in the world and it’s something we should be immensely proud of. Our democratic system is one which encourages everyone to be involved in the political process, and thus shape the future of this great nation. However, during this year’s South Australian election the Labor Party threw our whole system in jeopardy. Instead of contesting the election in a fair and open manner, instead of putting faith in their own policies to capture voter support, they chose to engage in a deceptive and misleading campaign by impersonating another party. It was a disgraceful act and one which bought the whole integrity of our electoral system to its knees.