A FAIR electoral system is the basis for any democracy.
But it became apparent when the results of the 2021 State Election were announced that major inequities had formed in our system of electing the Western Australian Legislative Council.
While much of the focus was on the proportional vote weighting between regional and metropolitan areas, significant inequities within WA's regions were also exposed.
For example, a vote in Kalgoorlie was worth 1.48 times more than a vote in Esperance and 3.48 times more than a vote in Albany.
Most electors would take it for granted that a vote cast anywhere across our State on polling day is worth the same as any other.
Well, it isn't.
In addition to this anomaly, the system allowed Wilson Tucker from the Daylight Savings Party to be elected on preferences despite attracting just 98 votes, equivalent to just 0.2 per cent of all votes cast in the Mining and Pastoral Region - 98 votes.
A party got a Member of Parliament elected with 98 votes.
On election day, Mr Tucker was still living in America.
This happened because the current system allows minor parties to 'preference harvest' - you vote for them, but they can pass your vote on to another minor party in a secret deal, without your knowledge or consent.
These examples show that the current system is broken and needs to be fixed.
I think that most Western Australians would agree.
The McGowan government has listened and acted.
A Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform was formed to make recommendations on how we could deliver a better and fairer system for the election of the Upper House.
The McGowan government has accepted these recommendations and has introduced to Parliament the Electoral Equality Bill 2021 which ensure every Western Australians' vote in the Upper House is valued equally and bans preference harvesting.
Equality is at the heart of this bill, creating a level playing field for all candidates.
The main change is that the six Legislative Council Regions, which each elect six representatives, will be replaced by a single electorate comprising the whole State, in much the same way as we elect senators to the Federal Parliament.
This also mirrors the electoral systems of New South Wales and South Australia.
The new quota required to earn a Legislative Council seat will be just 2.63 per cent of the entire State vote.
Far from entrenching the major parties, the revised quota will allow a diverse range of aspiring political representatives to vie for a realistic chance at election - they just have to earn it like everyone else.
This new model will mean the percentage of votes a political party or candidate receives, determines the percentage of seats they win.
You cannot be fairer than that.
This is not a reduction in political representation, in fact, it's the opposite.
It will be an adjustment to think of our legislative councillors representing the whole State rather than particular geographical regions.
What this will mean is that every Western Australian will be represented by all 37 members of the Legislative Council.
Legislative councillors will be free to base their electorates in whatever location they wish and may choose to campaign on this.
Our WA Labor MPs come from a diverse range of backgrounds and locations.
We have had more regional members than any other party in the past two parliaments.
Every one of us has an office in our respective communities, which is more than other parties can say.
And we will continue to be based and to deliver in the regions.
Under the new system, additional resourcing for regional MPs will remain, encouraging regional MPs to remain based in the regions.
I look forward to contesting the 2025 election and hope to continue my work as a strong advocate for regional Western Australia.
Should I be re-elected my office will remain based in the regions and my door will continue to remain open to everyone, no matter where they live.
