The Federal Government should adopt Victoria’s set four-year terms to avoid “the archaic pre-poll circus”, according to a Geelong MP.
Simon Ramsay called for a review of Canberra’s existing three-year maximum terms and backed the adoption of electronic voting to reduce the eight-day federal vote count.
The three-year term failed to give elected governments enough time to introduce their policy without being compromised by campaigning, the Liberal Member for Western Victoria said.
“Governments are now so reactive to the 24-hour news cycle that they are always in campaign mode,” Mr Ramsay said.
“This makes it difficult for our leaders to have the courage to set good policy or stand on the strength of their convictions with the mandate the voters of Australia have given them.
“Victoria’s model with a four-year term and perhaps a rotation of senators would give governments time to fulfil their obligations of mandated policies without the interruption of campaign compromises.”
The pre-poll “circus” should be reviewed because voters were using it more as a convenience than a necessity, said Mr Ramsay, whose partner, Sarah Henderson, was returned as Federal Liberal Member for Corangamite last week.
“While I understand that some voters have a legitimate reason for voting early, many abuse the process or don’t realise it’s specifically to be utilised by those who cannot attend a voting centre on Election Day.
“Apart from tying up a huge amount of resources with the excessive three weeks of pre-polling, we reach the ridiculous situation where Geelong’s Belmont early voting centre had more than 30 combined supporters and candidates crowding the doorway and besieging voters with how-to-vote cards and pleas for a vote.
“It is no doubt a popular method of voting, given about 30 per cent of voters used postal votes or pre-poll but it is getting out of control.
“With the age of technology, surely voters can have electronic access to how-to-vote cards electronically or available in voting centres without the melee we see every day outside the polling centre.
“If postal and absentee voting was online, a lot of paperwork would be eliminated.
“There would also be merit in using electronic voting to reduce the laborious process of counting votes for more than a week after Election Day.
“Even with just 70 per cent of voters showing up on Election Day, lines at polling booths saw many voters, including senior citizens, standing in the wind and rain for more than an hour.
“With the potential for an additional one million Australian voters at the next Federal Election, this will only get worse.
“It is time to look at how we can enhance our democratic right to vote in Australia so our governments can govern without campaigning, our voters can be informed and they can utilise their right to vote using technological efficiency and a more productive use of resources.”
