An absurd parliamentary and constitutional situation has resulted in the invalidation of electoral reform legislation passed by the Western Australian Parliament. The Gallop Labor government passed reforms to implement one-vote-one-value, but the legislation has been over-ruled by the state Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that the electoral laws required an absolute majority in the Legislative Council. In the 34-member chamber, an absolution majority is 18 seats. The ALP has 13 and the Greens 5, but the ALP only has 17 votes on the floor of the House because one of their number is the Council President and cannot vote unless there is a tie. As a result, the legislation was passed by a simple majority of 17-16.
Western Australia has the last remaining State Parliament yet to adopt one-vote-one-value.
This is the text of a media statement released by the Western Australian Attorney General, Jim McGinty.
Attorney General Jim McGinty says the State Government remains fully committed to the principle of equal voting rights for all Western Australians.
Mr McGinty said today's Supreme Court ruling, which disallowed the Government's electoral equality laws, was very disappointing.
However, he said the Australian Labor Party had stood for one vote, one value electoral equality for 100 years and did not intend to walk away from its commitment to that principle.
"We remain totally committed to electoral equality," the Attorney General said.
"Today's setback will not in any way detract from our commitment to allowing all Western Australians to have an equal say in electing their Government."
Mr McGinty said the Supreme Court had been asked to rule on the technicality of the way in which the new electoral laws were introduced and passed through the Parliament. It was not asked to rule on the merit of electoral equality.
The Full Bench of five judges ruled 4:1 against the validity of the legislation's passage through Parliament. The argument centred on whether the legislation required a simple majority (17 votes) or an absolute majority (18 votes).
Mr McGinty said the irony was that the ALP and the Greens together had 18 members in the Legislative Council but had been denied one of these votes because a Labor MP was the council president.
The Government would study the court's ruling and would look at every option available for pursuing the principle of electoral equality.
"Every other Parliament in Australia - State, Territory and Commonwealth - is already elected on the basis of electoral equality," Mr McGinty said.
"The vote-weighting in WA, which gives people in country areas two, three and even four times the say of people in Perth when electing their Government, is quite simply a national disgrace.
"I think there is widespread support for the principle of electoral equality throughout the length and breadth of WA - including regional areas - and the Government is absolutely committed to pursuing this reform."
The Attorney General thanked the Greens (WA) members for their support in seeking to achieve the principle of electoral equality.
