Labor failed to address Victoria’s manipulated upper house voting system despite a Labor-chaired committee’s push to examine reform and an appetite among senior Labor MPs to fix it.
Support to overhaul the group voting system grew on Thursday after a leaked video showed so-called “preference whisperer” Glenn Druery brazenly spruiking his cash-for-seats business, which is only possible because Victoria is the last state in which minor parties can harvest preferences and elect MPs who can poll less than 1 per cent of the vote.
Glenn Druery, the so-called ‘preference whisperer’.Credit:Andrew Meares
The opposition pledged that if elected, it would change the law and the Greens lambasted Labor for its inaction. Premier Daniel Andrews said he would wait for a post-election review before considering potential changes.
But a review of the 2018 election, run by the Labor-chaired Electoral Matters Committee, found a “large number” of concerned community members wanted the voting model overhauled. It called for a fresh inquiry into changing the system, but the inquiry never eventuated.
“Andrews went out today and said we need to wait on another review. That’s what they said in 2018,” Greens leader Samantha Ratnam, whose party lost several seats as a result of the voting system at the 2018 election, told The Age.
“Labor may prefer to deal with a motley crew of Druery’s ‘family’ on the crossbench rather than the Greens, but it has meant our group voting system has stuck around like a bad rash.”
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam.Credit:Jason South
The Age has also confirmed that advocates for change within Labor – which included the then cabinet minister Gavin Jennings and committee chair Lee Tarlamis – had a loose plan to fix what they deemed to be a serious problem before this month’s election.
Sources said the advocates hoped to build momentum for the delicate manoeuvre that would inevitably upset key crossbenchers whose votes the government needed to pass laws.
The sources, who spoke anonymously to detail private talks, said it was not that the plan had been stopped, but rather, there was a lack of appetite in the government to pursue a tough reform that would not win many votes. The defection of two Labor MPs in the upper house would have made it harder to secure required support.
On Thursday, Andrews went some way in explaining Labor’s inaction: “It certainly has not been at the top of the list.”
The Herald Sun’s publication of Druery speaking in a private meeting with election candidates lifted the lid on the way he takes advantage of the voting system. He does so within the law, although he has been scrutinised for years, but the brazenness with which he described his operation sparked condemnation among politicians and analysts.
The experienced political operative boasted about his “control” of Victoria’s upper house, how he puts his “family” into parliament and his creation of the “Sack Dan Andrews” Party to capture more voters to feed into his preference-sharing group.
The opposition said it would refer Labor and Druery to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission over Druery’s claim that he was working to elect upper house candidates amenable to Labor’s agenda. Many of the MPs he helps are anti-Labor, including former Liberal MP Bernie Finn and former Labor MP Adem Somyurek, whose Democratic Labour Party is working with Druery in this election.
Victoria is the only Australian jurisdiction to continue using the group voting system, which results in parties having control over the distribution of preferences if someone votes above the line. Group voting means voters who number a single box above the line on their ballot for the upper house, rather than preferencing one to five at the bottom, don’t control where votes are directed if their candidate does not garner enough support.
Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy on the campaign trail this week.Credit:Mark Stewart
Asked why his government had not enacted reforms, Andrews said a post-election review could recommend changes.
“Let’s have the review and then let’s have a discussion about, in more concrete terms, about what we might do about some of the challenges we face,” he said. “What’s in the media today, I think it brings this matter into sharper focus.”
Andrews said he did not believe Labor had ever worked with Druery. “I don’t think I’ve ever met the bloke,” he said.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said Victoria’s voting system was comparable to those used in the “third world”.
The Animal Justice Party’s Andy Meddick.Credit:Getty
“The government says they don’t have a problem with this. They have been the beneficiary of the results of this,” he said. “Why don’t they change it?
“I don’t believe the will of the people is being properly reflected.”
Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick said the voting system needed fixing. He has worked with Druery previously and this is the first time he has called for change.
“Glenn is not breaking the law. But it is a question of whether you believe somebody can buy a seat in parliament this way,” Meddick said.
“The system, which has benefitted the major parties, is broken and most people in the public don’t want that. They want a fairer system and so do I, and that is proportional representation [where parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes they receive].”
In the leaked video, there were discussions about how much Druery would charge winning candidates.
“If you win, you will give me $55,000,” Druery said. “Well, normally, I would charge you $5000 … everybody gives me $5000 as a member of the family. I’m not going to charge you that, but if you win, you can give it to me.”
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