9:00 – The draft redistribution of Tasmania’s five federal electorates is due to be published later today. I expect it to come out before midday.
Tasmania is guaranteed five federal electorates even though its population currently only justifies the entitlement to three electorates. For this reason, Tasmania will be unaffected by any parliamentary expansion.
Nominations will be announced next Monday for the upcoming South Australian state election.
As we get closer to that deadline, I’ve been updating my list of candidates in my election guide.
According to reporting in the Sydney Morning Herald today, and from other conversations with journalists, it sounds like the federal Labor government is on the verge of announcing a plan to expand the size of the parliament prior to the 2028 federal election.
How does owning your home or renting impact on how you vote? For today’s podcast, Ben was joined by Shaun Ratcliff and Josh Goddard to discuss what we know about how home ownership (or asset ownership more broadly) influences voting trends.
Sussan Ley has announced that she will be retiring from politics following her loss of the Liberal leadership this morning.
That means there will be a by-election for her seat of Farrer. I have converted my federal election guide into a by-election guide which you can read now, with no paywall.
In last Sunday’s Thai general election, voters swung strongly to current prime minister Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party, or BJT. In this podcast, Ben discusses Thai politics and the results of the Thai election with Erin Cook of the Dari Mulut ke Mulut newsletter.
Two different politicians announced their retirements today due to health reasons, causing two by-elections that are worth watching.
Kat McNamara won the Northern Territory seat of Nightcliff at the 2024 election, and was the first Greens MP elected in the Territory. McNamara came from third place to win on independent preferences.
One of the most common arguments regarding Australian electoral systems concerns whether voters are required to number every box on their ballot paper in single-member elections. There are principled arguments for two different methods, but often these arguments are backed up by the perceived self-interest of someone’s preferred political party.
The current LNP state government in Queensland was elected on a promise of restoring the Optional Preferential Voting (OPV) system used in the state up until the 2015 election.
Under this system, voters are not required to number every box on the ballot. In contrast, the current Compulsory Preferential Voting (CPV) system requires voters to effectively number every box.
A by-election will be held soon in the Victorian state seat of Nepean, covering the Mornington Peninsula to the south-east of Melbourne.
Nepean has been held since 2022 by Sam Groth. Groth had announced plans to retire at the general election late last year, and stepped down from the deputy leadership last week.