Ministerial Expert Committee Review of the WA Electoral system for the election of the Western Australian Legislative Council

Abstract

This submission is in response to a request by The Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform for submissions on the system used for the election of members to the Western Australian Legislative Council. It focuses on the Mining and Pastoral Electoral Region election results 2021 as that appears to be the primary influencing factor for the Attorney General and Minister for Electoral Affairs to commission the review.

It concludes that Equity is not simply treating equal people equally, but equity must also acknowledge that people in differing, or disadvantaged situations, must be treated differently. The sparsely populated, environmentally harsh, rural and remote regions of Western Australia require greater parliamentary service and representation than those of the more clement urban areas.

It recommends that the status quo of the number of members of the Legislative Council Mining and Pastoral Electoral Region be maintained. The concept of numerical equality is not sufficient to outweigh the other significant social, economic and natural environmental disadvantages experienced by those rural and remote residents/electors/taxpayers.