Western Australian state election, 2008
Encyclopedia
A general election was held in the state
of Western Australia
on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly
and 36 members to the Legislative Council
. The incumbent
centre-left
Australian Labor Party
government, in power since the 2001 election
and led since 25 January 2006 by Premier
Alan Carpenter
, was defeated by the centre-right
Liberal Party
opposition, led by Opposition Leader
Colin Barnett
since 6 August 2008.
The election resulted in a hung parliament
with no party gaining a majority. The Liberals were placed in a position to form a minority government with the consent of Nationals and independents, although under the proviso of empanelling National Party ministers with "the right to exempt [themselves] from Cabinet and vote against an issue on the floor of the Parliament if it's against the wishes of the people [they] represent," an explicit rejection of the pattern of former coalition-government agreements under which the Nationals had been seen as virtual co-owners of Liberal policies.
The election was the first to be held since a major electoral redistribution was implemented in 2007. This redistribution involved significant changes to the geographic distribution of parliamentary seats and regions in Western Australia, and brought the state into line with the rest of Australia in adopting one vote one value
for the lower house.
The election was called earlier than expected by Alan Carpenter
, who requested the Governor to dissolve parliament on 7 August 2008.
which includes Perth
and its suburbs, was to be divided into 34 Assembly districts or 60% of the seats, while the rest of the state was to be divided into 23 or 40% of the seats. However, at the 2006 census, taken on 8 August 2006, 73.76% of Western Australians lived in the metropolitan region. This meant that each member of the Legislative Assembly, as at 30 September 2007, was representing either 28,519 metropolitan voters or 14,551 country voters.
One vote one value
had long been sought by the Australian Labor Party
, that party claiming to be disadvantaged by the familiar reality that country constituencies have tended to elect non-Labor members. The Burke
Labor government (1983–1988), with the conditional support of the National Party
, managed to achieve limited reform—through the Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987—in increasing the metropolitan quota from 29 to 34, redesigning the Legislative Council
(or Upper House) into a Senate
-style body with six uneven multi-member seats filled by a system of STV
proportional representation, and creating a permanent, funded Electoral Commission as a body fully independent from Parliament and the executive. Between Burke's retirement from politics in 1988 and Labor's election loss five years later, the government faced a hostile upper house, considerable distractions by way of the WA Inc royal commission and, after 1991, was a minority government
unable to achieve further electoral reform.
Following Labor's win at the 2001 election, the new premier Geoff Gallop
and attorney-general
Jim McGinty
were committed to implementing 'one vote, one value'. By this time, all other states and territories had eliminated electoral malapportionment. Unlike their predecessors, they could count on the support of half of the upper-house members for passage of the electoral legislation but, as the proposed legislation involved constitutional change, an absolute majority of the members was necessary. The Government went to the High Court
in 2003 to determine whether the Legislative Council president's casting vote could be used to obtain the majority, but the High Court answered that it could not. Change occurred, however, when the Liberal Party
, which staunchly opposed the reform, failed to preselect one of their North Metropolitan
MLCs, Alan Cadby
, in a bid to get Peter Collier
into the Legislative Council at the 2005 election
. Cadby resigned from the Liberal Party and completed his term as an Independent, consenting to Labor's electoral legislation with some amendments. On 20 May 2005, just before newly elected upper-house members were to take their places, the Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005 (No.1 of 2005) passed.
The passage of the Electoral Reform (Electoral Funding) Act 2006 into law on 26 October 2006 means that, for the first time, candidates, parties and Legislative Council groups will be able to receive public funding based on their performance in terms of votes at the election as well as a refund of their nomination deposit if they receive over 4% of the primary vote, as is the case in several other states and in federal elections. The rate for the 2008 election has been set at $1.56888 per vote. The legislation, which was Attorney-General
Jim McGinty
's second attempt to introduce the measure, was explicitly based on the 1992 reforms of Queensland's Electoral Act and was intended to improve accountability and increase candidates' immunity, or perceived immunity, from outside influences. Prior to the 2008 election, candidates could receive a refund of their nomination deposit only if they achieved 10% of the total primary vote. Earlier similar legislation had failed in November 2003, despite an in-principle agreement with then opposition leader Colin Barnett, owing to Liberal backbench opposition and a campaign against the proposal by the West Australian
newspaper, which termed the measure as a 'poll tax
'.
has a total of 59 seats, up from 57 in the last parliament. The last increase in seats, from 55 to 57, occurred before the 1983 election
. Since the enactment of the Electoral Act 1907, each seat is filled by a single member selected using instant-runoff
preferential voting. In order for a valid vote to be cast, voters must number all candidates on the ballot paper in the order of their preference as with Australian House of Representatives
elections. At the election, 42 of the seats are located in the metropolitan area, 12 in the Agricultural
and South West
regions, and 5 in the Mining and Pastoral
region in the north and east of the state. Seats in the Mining and Pastoral region are permitted to be under quota on account of their significant geographical size, but all other seats have a quota of 21,350 voters with a maximum variance of 10%.
The Western Australian Legislative Council
, sometimes referred to as the 'upper house', consists of 36 members, with 6 elected from each of 6 multi-member regions (also known as constituencies). The system used for voting is known as Single transferable vote
, which is a variant of the proportional representation
system. The ballot paper (voting form), traditionally printed on pink coloured paper, is divided into two sections. The voter casts a vote in either one of two ways - by writing the numeral "1" on the left hand side corresponding to the party of choice, or by numbering all candidates on the right hand side of the form according to his/her preference. If the voter chooses the first method, the vote is then counted according to the publicly known preference listing for the party chosen by the voter. The same voting system is used for electing members to the Australian Senate
.
Members of the Legislative Council, unlike those in the Legislative Assembly, hold their seats for a fixed term of four years. They take their seats in the house on 22 May following the date of their election. The Legislative Council is not dissolved prior to the end of each four year term, even if a general election is held several months prior to the end of the term. For this reason, members elected to the Legislative Council in the 2008 election did not take their seats until May 2009.
. After the close of polls at 6:00pm, ballot boxes are emptied and a provisional count of ordinary votes is conducted at each of the 800 polling places. Preliminary results are telephoned to District and Regional Returning Officers, who forward aggregated results to the Tally Room at ABC's East Perth studios.
Election night results are provisional for several reasons. Firstly, there is insufficient time to conduct a full distribution of voter preferences in those Legislative Assembly seats that require it. The official count for all Assembly districts does not commence till after the closing date for postal votes which is the Thursday following the election. Secondly, only ticket votes and first-preference votes for candidates on non-ticket ballots for the Legislative Council are counted on election night, providing only a notional distribution for each region. The high proportion of early votes cast in this election along with the large number of absentee votes cast on election day (caused by elector confusion arising from the recent changes to electoral boundaries) was expected to delay the determination of final results, particularly in closely fought seats.
Legislative Council ballot papers and all declaration (absentee and provisional) votes cast on election day are delivered to the Count Centre on Sunday where the official count of these votes continues for 7-10 days. Ticket votes are sorted (ticket/non-ticket/informal) then manually counted, while preferences on non-ticket ballots are entered into a computer database under the scrutiny of party officials. The ticket vote results are added to the full preference results and the final result determined. Finally, all Legislative Assembly votes are officially counted by each District Returning Officer who then declares (announces) the successful candidate for the particular district.
polling was conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes
normally consist of around 800-900 electors, with the 10 – 14 August poll consisting of 1088 electors, and the 2 – 4 September poll consisting of 1802 electors. The margin of error
was around ±3.5 percent, while the 2 – 4 September poll had a declared margin of error of ±2.3 percent.
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
and 36 members to the Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
. The incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
centre-left
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...
Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government, in power since the 2001 election
Western Australian state election, 2001
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 10 February 2001 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...
and led since 25 January 2006 by Premier
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
Alan Carpenter
Alan Carpenter
Alan John Carpenter is a former Australian politician. He was the 28th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 2006 to 2008. He took office following the resignation of Dr Geoff Gallop...
, was defeated by the centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
opposition, led by Opposition Leader
Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)
The Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties in the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia. By convention, he or she is generally a member of the Legislative Assembly...
Colin Barnett
Colin Barnett
Colin James Barnett , Australian politician, is the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, the 29th and current Premier of Western Australia since the 2008 election and served as the Treasurer of Western Australia in 2010. He was sworn into office by Governor Ken Michael on 23 September 2008...
since 6 August 2008.
The election resulted in a hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
with no party gaining a majority. The Liberals were placed in a position to form a minority government with the consent of Nationals and independents, although under the proviso of empanelling National Party ministers with "the right to exempt [themselves] from Cabinet and vote against an issue on the floor of the Parliament if it's against the wishes of the people [they] represent," an explicit rejection of the pattern of former coalition-government agreements under which the Nationals had been seen as virtual co-owners of Liberal policies.
The election was the first to be held since a major electoral redistribution was implemented in 2007. This redistribution involved significant changes to the geographic distribution of parliamentary seats and regions in Western Australia, and brought the state into line with the rest of Australia in adopting one vote one value
One vote one value
In Australia, one vote one value is a legislative principle of democracy whereby each electorate has the same population within a specified percentage of variance. In the case of the Commonwealth, the maximum variance for the House of Representatives is 10% above or below the mean...
for the lower house.
The election was called earlier than expected by Alan Carpenter
Alan Carpenter
Alan John Carpenter is a former Australian politician. He was the 28th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 2006 to 2008. He took office following the resignation of Dr Geoff Gallop...
, who requested the Governor to dissolve parliament on 7 August 2008.
Legislative Assembly
|}Legislative Council
|}Summary of Results
| width=50% valign=top | |
width=50% valign=top | |
Seats changing hands
| Seat | Pre-2008 | Swing | Post-2008 | ||||||
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
| Albany Electoral district of Albany The Electoral district of Albany is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Albany is named for the port and regional city of Western Australia which falls within its borders. It is one of the oldest electorates in Western Australia, with its first member having been... |
Liberal | notional | 2.3 | 2.5 | 0.2 | Peter Watson Peter Watson Peter Watson was the archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. Watson was born in Sydney. He was ordained as a priest in Sydney in 1962 and consecrated as the Bishop of Parramatta in 1989 and became Bishop of South Sydney in 1993. In 2000 he was elected to succeed Keith Rayner as ... |
Labor | ||
| Bunbury Electoral district of Bunbury The Electoral district of Bunbury is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district, taking in the city of Bunbury has existed continuously since 1890, being one of the original 30 seats contested at the 1890 state election... |
Labor | notional | 0.9 | 12.6 | 11.7 | John Castrilli John Castrilli Giovanni "John" Mario Castrilli was born 22 November 1950 in Roccamandolfi in Italy. He has been a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Bunbury after winning the seat in the 2005 election.... |
Liberal | ||
| Darling Range Electoral district of Darling Range Darling Range is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is based to the east and south-east of Perth.-Geography:Darling Range is situated in the outer east and south-east of Perth... |
Labor | notional | 0.8 | 6.3 | 5.6 | Tony Simpson Tony Simpson Anthony James Simpson is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since February 2005, representing the electorate of Serpentine-Jarrahdale from 2005 to 2008 and the electorate of Darling Range since the 2008 election.He was born in... |
Liberal | ||
| Jandakot Electoral district of Jandakot Jandakot is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is based in the southern suburbs of Perth and is named for the suburb of Jandakot. It also includes the suburbs of Atwell, Aubin Grove, Banjup, Leeming, Murdoch, North Lake and... |
Labor | notional - new seat | 3.6 | 5.5 | 1.8 | Joe Francis Joe Francis (politician) Joseph Michael "Joe" Francis is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since the 2008 state election, representing Jandakot. He won the seat after overcoming the notional Labor majority.... |
Liberal | ||
| Kalgoorlie Electoral district of Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district includes not only the town of Kalgoorlie, but significant parts of the outback in central and eastern Western Australia.... |
Liberal | Matt Birney Matt Birney Matthew John Birney is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2006.... |
9.6* | 53.6 | 3.6** | John Bowler John Bowler (politician) John James Mansell Bowler is a Western Australian politician who has represented the electoral district of Murchison-Eyre since 2001.... |
Independent | ||
| Kingsley Electoral district of Kingsley -External links:* ABC Election Profiles: * WAEC District Maps:... |
Labor | Judy Hughes Judy Hughes Judith Hughes née Verhagen is an Australian politician. She was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2008, representing the electorate of Kingsley.... |
0.1 | 4.6 | 4.5 | Andrea Mitchell Andrea Mitchell (politician) Andrea Ruth Mitchell is an Australian politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since 2008, representing the district of Kingsley.... |
Liberal | ||
| Moore Electoral district of Moore Moore is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.Moore has had three incarnations as an electorate. It its first incarnation, Moore was one of the original 30 seats contested at the 1890 state election.... |
Liberal | Gary Snook Gary Snook Gary Snook was born 21 October 1947 in Perth, Australia. He was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from February 2005 to September 2008 representing the electorate of Moore... |
2.8 | 5.9 | 3.1 | Grant Woodhams Grant Woodhams Grant Allen Woodhams in Sydney, New South Wales is an Australian politician. He has been a National Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since February 2005.... |
National | ||
| Morley Electoral district of Morley Morley is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.Morley existed as an electoral district from 1974 to 1996, and was restored as an electorate name in 2008... |
Labor | notional - new seat | 9.9 | 10.8 | 0.9 | Ian Britza Ian Britza Ian Maxwell Britza is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since the 2008 state election, representing Morley. He won the seat, despite its notional Labor margin, partly due to the preference flow from Independent candidate John... |
Liberal | ||
| Mount Lawley Electoral district of Mount Lawley Mount Lawley is an electorate in the state of Western Australia. Mount Lawley is named for the inner north-eastern Perth suburb of Mount Lawley which falls within its borders.... |
Labor | notional - new seat | 5.9 | 8.1 | 2.2 | Michael Sutherland Michael Sutherland Michael William Sutherland is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since September 2008, representing the electorate of Mount Lawley. Michael is the Deputy Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly... |
Liberal | ||
| Ocean Reef Electoral district of Ocean Reef The Electoral district of Ocean Reef is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. The district is named for the outer northern Perth suburb of Ocean Reef which falls within its borders.-History:... |
Labor | notional - new seat | 1.6 | 6.0 | 4.4 | Albert Jacob Albert Jacob Albert Paul Jacob is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since the 2008 state election, representing Ocean Reef. He won the seat after overcoming a notional Labor majority. He is a Justice of the Peace and a former councillor... |
Liberal | ||
| Riverton Electoral district of Riverton The Electoral district of Riverton is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Riverton is named for the southern Perth suburb of Riverton which falls within its borders.-History:... |
Labor | Tony McRae Tony McRae Anthony "Tony" David McRae in Tumut, New South Wales is an Australian politician. He was an ALP member in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, representing the electorate of Riverton.... |
2.1 | 2.2 | 0.2 | Mike Nahan Mike Nahan Michael Dennis "Mike" Nahan is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since 2008.... |
Liberal | ||
| Southern River Electoral district of Southern River Southern River is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is a marginal seat based in the southern suburbs of Perth.-Geography:... |
Labor | Paul Andrews Paul Andrews (Australian politician) Paul William Andrews was an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, representing the electorate of Southern River.... |
5.1 | 6.8 | 1.6 | Peter Abetz Peter Abetz Peter Abetz is an Australian politician. Peter Abetz holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and a Bachelor of Divinity. In the 2008 Western Australian state election, he was the Liberal Party candidate for the Labor-held seat of Southern River... |
Liberal | ||
| Swan Hills Electoral district of Swan Hills -External links:* ABC Election Profiles: * WAEC District Maps:... |
Labor | Jaye Radisich Jaye Radisich Jaye Amber Radisich is an Australian politician. She was Australian Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, representing the electorate of Swan Hills. Radisich was the youngest woman ever to be elected to the Western Australian parliament.Radisich was... |
3.6 | 7.1 | 3.5 | Frank Alban Frank Alban Francesco Angelo "Frank" Alban is an Australian politician. He was born in Ostiglia, Italy, and arrived in Western Australia in February 1956. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since the 2008 state election, representing Swan Hills... |
Liberal | ||
| Wanneroo Electoral district of Wanneroo -External links:* ABC Election Profiles: * WAEC District Maps:... |
Labor | Dianne Guise Dianne Guise Dianne Joy Guise is an Australian politician. She was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, representing the district of Wanneroo.... |
6.1 | 6.9 | 0.7 | Paul Miles Paul Miles (politician) Paul Terrance Miles is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since the 2008 state election, representing Wanneroo. He won the seat after defeating sitting Labor MLA Dianne Guise.-References:... |
Liberal | ||
- Members in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
- *Kalgoorlie'sElectoral district of KalgoorlieKalgoorlie is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district includes not only the town of Kalgoorlie, but significant parts of the outback in central and eastern Western Australia....
first margin figure is Liberal vs. Labor - **Kalgoorlie'sElectoral district of KalgoorlieKalgoorlie is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district includes not only the town of Kalgoorlie, but significant parts of the outback in central and eastern Western Australia....
second margin figure is Independent vs. National
Electoral changes
The 2008 election takes place with entirely new boundaries determined in a redistribution finalised on 29 October 2007 by the Western Australian Electoral Commission. Prior to the redistribution, the Electoral Act 1907, which governs elections in the state, specified that the metropolitan regionMetropolitan Region Scheme
The Metropolitan Region Scheme is the legal land plan covering urban planning throughout the Perth Metropolitan Region. It classifies land into broad zones and reservations and is administered by the Western Australian Planning Commission....
which includes Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and its suburbs, was to be divided into 34 Assembly districts or 60% of the seats, while the rest of the state was to be divided into 23 or 40% of the seats. However, at the 2006 census, taken on 8 August 2006, 73.76% of Western Australians lived in the metropolitan region. This meant that each member of the Legislative Assembly, as at 30 September 2007, was representing either 28,519 metropolitan voters or 14,551 country voters.
One vote one value
One vote one value
In Australia, one vote one value is a legislative principle of democracy whereby each electorate has the same population within a specified percentage of variance. In the case of the Commonwealth, the maximum variance for the House of Representatives is 10% above or below the mean...
had long been sought by the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
, that party claiming to be disadvantaged by the familiar reality that country constituencies have tended to elect non-Labor members. The Burke
Brian Burke
Brian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988...
Labor government (1983–1988), with the conditional support of the National Party
National Party of Western Australia
The National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity....
, managed to achieve limited reform—through the Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987—in increasing the metropolitan quota from 29 to 34, redesigning the Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
(or Upper House) into a Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
-style body with six uneven multi-member seats filled by a system of STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
proportional representation, and creating a permanent, funded Electoral Commission as a body fully independent from Parliament and the executive. Between Burke's retirement from politics in 1988 and Labor's election loss five years later, the government faced a hostile upper house, considerable distractions by way of the WA Inc royal commission and, after 1991, was a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
unable to achieve further electoral reform.
Following Labor's win at the 2001 election, the new premier Geoff Gallop
Geoff Gallop
Geoffrey Ian Gallop, AC is an Australian academic and former politician. He was the Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He currently resides in Sydney.-Early life and education:...
and attorney-general
Attorney-General of Western Australia
The Attorney-General of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia's system of law and justice. Before the advent of representative government in 1870, the title was Advocate-General of Western Australia...
Jim McGinty
Jim McGinty
James Andrew McGinty is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1996...
were committed to implementing 'one vote, one value'. By this time, all other states and territories had eliminated electoral malapportionment. Unlike their predecessors, they could count on the support of half of the upper-house members for passage of the electoral legislation but, as the proposed legislation involved constitutional change, an absolute majority of the members was necessary. The Government went to the High Court
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
in 2003 to determine whether the Legislative Council president's casting vote could be used to obtain the majority, but the High Court answered that it could not. Change occurred, however, when the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, which staunchly opposed the reform, failed to preselect one of their North Metropolitan
Electoral region of North Metropolitan
The electoral region of North Metropolitan is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the north-western and western suburbs of Perth. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with seven members who had been...
MLCs, Alan Cadby
Alan Cadby
Alan Cadby is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2005, representing the Liberal Party of Australia from 2001 to 2004, and serving as an independent from 2004 to 2005, for the seven-member North Metropolitan Region.He is most well...
, in a bid to get Peter Collier
Peter Collier
Peter Charles Collier is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Council since 2005, representing the North Metropolitan region...
into the Legislative Council at the 2005 election
Western Australian state election, 2005
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 26 February 2005 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...
. Cadby resigned from the Liberal Party and completed his term as an Independent, consenting to Labor's electoral legislation with some amendments. On 20 May 2005, just before newly elected upper-house members were to take their places, the Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005 (No.1 of 2005) passed.
The passage of the Electoral Reform (Electoral Funding) Act 2006 into law on 26 October 2006 means that, for the first time, candidates, parties and Legislative Council groups will be able to receive public funding based on their performance in terms of votes at the election as well as a refund of their nomination deposit if they receive over 4% of the primary vote, as is the case in several other states and in federal elections. The rate for the 2008 election has been set at $1.56888 per vote. The legislation, which was Attorney-General
Attorney-General of Western Australia
The Attorney-General of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia's system of law and justice. Before the advent of representative government in 1870, the title was Advocate-General of Western Australia...
Jim McGinty
Jim McGinty
James Andrew McGinty is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1996...
's second attempt to introduce the measure, was explicitly based on the 1992 reforms of Queensland's Electoral Act and was intended to improve accountability and increase candidates' immunity, or perceived immunity, from outside influences. Prior to the 2008 election, candidates could receive a refund of their nomination deposit only if they achieved 10% of the total primary vote. Earlier similar legislation had failed in November 2003, despite an in-principle agreement with then opposition leader Colin Barnett, owing to Liberal backbench opposition and a campaign against the proposal by the West Australian
The West Australian
The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
newspaper, which termed the measure as a 'poll tax
Poll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
'.
The electoral system
The Western Australian Legislative AssemblyWestern Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
has a total of 59 seats, up from 57 in the last parliament. The last increase in seats, from 55 to 57, occurred before the 1983 election
Western Australian state election, 1983
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 19 February 1983 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and 18 members to the 34-seat Legislative Council....
. Since the enactment of the Electoral Act 1907, each seat is filled by a single member selected using instant-runoff
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
preferential voting. In order for a valid vote to be cast, voters must number all candidates on the ballot paper in the order of their preference as with Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
elections. At the election, 42 of the seats are located in the metropolitan area, 12 in the Agricultural
Electoral region of Agricultural
The electoral region of Agricultural is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the South West, Peel and part of the Great Southern regions of the state...
and South West
Electoral region of South West
The electoral region of South West is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the South West, Peel and part of the Great Southern regions of the state...
regions, and 5 in the Mining and Pastoral
Electoral region of Mining and Pastoral
The electoral region of Mining and Pastoral is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the northern and eastern regions of the State. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with five members who had been...
region in the north and east of the state. Seats in the Mining and Pastoral region are permitted to be under quota on account of their significant geographical size, but all other seats have a quota of 21,350 voters with a maximum variance of 10%.
The Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
, sometimes referred to as the 'upper house', consists of 36 members, with 6 elected from each of 6 multi-member regions (also known as constituencies). The system used for voting is known as Single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
, which is a variant of the proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
system. The ballot paper (voting form), traditionally printed on pink coloured paper, is divided into two sections. The voter casts a vote in either one of two ways - by writing the numeral "1" on the left hand side corresponding to the party of choice, or by numbering all candidates on the right hand side of the form according to his/her preference. If the voter chooses the first method, the vote is then counted according to the publicly known preference listing for the party chosen by the voter. The same voting system is used for electing members to the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
.
Members of the Legislative Council, unlike those in the Legislative Assembly, hold their seats for a fixed term of four years. They take their seats in the house on 22 May following the date of their election. The Legislative Council is not dissolved prior to the end of each four year term, even if a general election is held several months prior to the end of the term. For this reason, members elected to the Legislative Council in the 2008 election did not take their seats until May 2009.
Counting the votes
More than 100,000 electors (7.5% of the electorate) cast their votes prior to election day, either by post or in person. Checking the eligibility of these votes commences 3 days prior to election day at the Count Centre in FremantleFremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
. After the close of polls at 6:00pm, ballot boxes are emptied and a provisional count of ordinary votes is conducted at each of the 800 polling places. Preliminary results are telephoned to District and Regional Returning Officers, who forward aggregated results to the Tally Room at ABC's East Perth studios.
Election night results are provisional for several reasons. Firstly, there is insufficient time to conduct a full distribution of voter preferences in those Legislative Assembly seats that require it. The official count for all Assembly districts does not commence till after the closing date for postal votes which is the Thursday following the election. Secondly, only ticket votes and first-preference votes for candidates on non-ticket ballots for the Legislative Council are counted on election night, providing only a notional distribution for each region. The high proportion of early votes cast in this election along with the large number of absentee votes cast on election day (caused by elector confusion arising from the recent changes to electoral boundaries) was expected to delay the determination of final results, particularly in closely fought seats.
Legislative Council ballot papers and all declaration (absentee and provisional) votes cast on election day are delivered to the Count Centre on Sunday where the official count of these votes continues for 7-10 days. Ticket votes are sorted (ticket/non-ticket/informal) then manually counted, while preferences on non-ticket ballots are entered into a computer database under the scrutiny of party officials. The ticket vote results are added to the full preference results and the final result determined. Finally, all Legislative Assembly votes are officially counted by each District Returning Officer who then declares (announces) the successful candidate for the particular district.
Key Dates
- Issue of writ: 6pm, 7 August
- Nominations open: 8 August
- Close of nominations: 12 noon, 15 August
- Close of rolls: 6pm, 15 August
- Postal voting commences: 18 August
- Pre-poll voting commences: 19 August
- Polling day: 6 September
- Return of writ: On or before 4 November
Candidates
Polling
NewspollNewspoll
Newspoll Market Research is an Australian company providing opinion polling and other market research services. Its chief executive is Martin O'Shannessy.Newspoll's surveys of voter opinion are published in The Australian....
polling was conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes
Sample size
Sample size determination is the act of choosing the number of observations to include in a statistical sample. The sample size is an important feature of any empirical study in which the goal is to make inferences about a population from a sample...
normally consist of around 800-900 electors, with the 10 – 14 August poll consisting of 1088 electors, and the 2 – 4 September poll consisting of 1802 electors. The margin of error
Margin of error
The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population...
was around ±3.5 percent, while the 2 – 4 September poll had a declared margin of error of ±2.3 percent.
| Date | Labor Carpenter |
Liberal Barnett |
|---|---|---|
| 2 – 4 Sep 2008 | 48% | 35% |
| 10 – 14 Aug 2008 | 49% | 31% |
| Apr – Jun 2008 | 64% | 14%1 |
| Jan – Mar 2008 | 61% | 12%1 |
| Oct – Dec 2007 | 63% | 13%2 |
| Jul – Sep 2007 | 59% | 14%2 |
| 23 – 24 Feb 2005 | 58%3 | 27% |
| Polling conducted by Newspoll Newspoll Newspoll Market Research is an Australian company providing opinion polling and other market research services. Its chief executive is Martin O'Shannessy.Newspoll's surveys of voter opinion are published in The Australian.... and published in The Australian The Australian The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly.... . ^ Remainder were "uncommitted" to either leader. 1 Buswell, 2 Omodei, 3 Gallop |
||
| Political parties | Two party preferred | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | ALP | Lib | Nat | Grn | Oth | ALP | Lib/Nat | |||
| 2 – 4 Sep 2008 | 35% | 37% | 6% | 12% | 10% | 50% | 50% | |||
| 10 – 14 Aug 2008 | 42% | 37% | 5% | 10% | 6% | 51% | 49% | |||
| Apr – Jun 2008 | 41% | 31% | 4% | 16% | 8% | 54% | 46% | |||
| Jan – Mar 2008 | 42% | 35% | 3% | 12% | 8% | 53% | 47% | |||
| Oct – Dec 2007 | 40% | 41% | 4% | 8% | 7% | 49% | 51% | |||
| Jul – Sep 2007 | 44% | 38% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 51% | 49% | |||
| 2005 Election | 41.9% | 35.6% | 3.7% | 7.6% | 11.2% | 52.3% | 47.7% | |||
| 23 – 24 Feb 2005 | 45% | 36.5% | 3% | 7% | 8.5% | 54% | 46% | |||
| Polling conducted by Newspoll Newspoll Newspoll Market Research is an Australian company providing opinion polling and other market research services. Its chief executive is Martin O'Shannessy.Newspoll's surveys of voter opinion are published in The Australian.... and published in The Australian The Australian The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly.... . |
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