While no system will ever be perfect, I agree that one which systematically works against a particular party is unfair and should be changed.

One of my concerns, however, is that the "two party preferred” count is actually nothing of the sort. Usually it doesn’t reveal the voter’s preference, but the preference of the voter’s first- choice party, often allocated to other parties according to arcane inter-party deals that do not accord with the likely preferences of voters.

Most voters vote their preferred party’s ticket, especially in the Senate, unless they’re political tragics dutifully ranking each of the senate candidates from 1 to 99ish (I confess I’m one, but we’re rare beasts).

Of course, this suits the major parties, as they do deals with minor parties to ensure their biggest rivals are ranked last, without regard to the merits of the beneficiaries. And it suits the minors, who would often not get seats on their own merits. But it duds the voters. This is how unrepresentative clowns like Family First wind up in the Senate.

So if preferences are to be given greater weight we need to ensure that votes actually reflect voters’ preference. At the very least this should entail making it clear that voters do not have to either support the party ticket or rank each and every candidate. We should be able to choose to rank only (say) our top ten preferred senators, with the rest deemed equal last, rather than having to fill in every box if voting “below the line”.

More radical would be to forbid party preferences altogether, and make voters make up their own minds.

Further, the number of voters in each electorate varies quite a lot (from Solomon with ~91000 voters to Canberra with ~165000), so it's technically possible that if the TPP process was been applied at a national level across all votes, the result could be, say, 53-47, but when done on a seat-by-seat level, 50-50.
Indeed, 10 of the top 11 most populous seats are held by Labor, and the one that isn't (Leichhardt) may well swing that way this election. OTOH, the Coalition hold 12 of the 15 least populous seats. On that basis, the ALP has to win far more than 53% of the national TPP vote to get it on a seat-by-seat basis.

I am not equipped to go all cerebral about political machinations but I would like to offer to readers an example of what I will go through on the 24th.
I will turn up at my local primary school and be faced with turnips handing out How To Vote cards. I will accept them politely and proceed into the hall and have my name marked off. Now, having avoided the fine for not voting, I will take my ream of paper and place selected ticks in selected boxes.
But my vote is not worth a pinch of poop unless I vote for Mr Katter because he is a given in Kennedy.
What if I didn't vote for him? My vote for the XYZ party has already been traded for a fistful of IOU's months ago and will go somewhere else other than the XYZ. So, why for the love of God, have I given my time to all this?

IS....IT....POSSIBLE ?

Could we ever have a government which was comprised of men and woman who actually stand for the best interests of the nation, rather than just the

1/ 'economic rationalists/business interests' (THE BOSSES)

2/ 'Working classes, Unions, blue collar interests' (THE WORKERS)

How wonderful it would be, if we had a system where policy was not tailored just to win marginal seats... and thus keep power.

It seems to me, that our political realities are adequate testimony to our fundamental greed and self centredness.

UNTIL... people (and that means us) replace 'me me me' as the one for whom they seek the benefit of political conflict and power, we will have the same old same old.. and a pendulum.

This is the part where the 'I hate godbotherers' mob may tune out or change the channel, because the only place my mind and heart can turn when faced with the ugliness of the human condition, is to do as John the Baptist did ..point to Jesus "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"

When Nichodemus came and praised Jesus, he received the "sledgehammer" treatment "Unless a man is born again, he will not see the kingdom of God"

Perhaps we need to be reborn as a nation.. embracing more enduring values, tried and tested ? Ok.. sure, we can do that, but there is something better.. Embrace the One who gave us those values.

Our electoral system is out of date, and needs to conform to a voting system that is clear to the voter.

Oh enkew, the joys of living in a safe seat. We don't even get the street theatre entertainment of campaigners dancing at the shopping mall, no junk mail, no door-knocking, no baby-kissing, no pork-barelling, not even TV ads. No Morgan, AC Neilson etc either. Feel quite deprived. I know folks in Bennelong in Sydney. All have been polled at least twice and one has been polled 9 times this year. I never been polled *sniff*

Its so quiet around here wouldn't know an election was on. I have often forgotten it was voting day. Look at the bright side, in the safe seats we tend to get along well with our neighbours? And none of those ugly posters in the front yards. I'm also happy with the team that holds my seat happy to vote for them, but they don't need it. I'd like to post it elsewhere where it might be counted.

I dont like the way local issues or States tend to vote locally for federal elections. Population is obviously unbalanced across the country but in many elections WA is all but irrelevant to the outcome, and Tasmania is over-represented. I'm tired of Tassie's problems becoming national issues every election. From my point-of-view the mill and hospital should be sorted at State govt level. The C'wlth had no right to step in and override a State govt managing its own affairs. Its not a federal issue and it wouldn't have been, if those seats weren't so important for federal govts to win.

By the same token, the C'wlth marching in with national military into the NT should be a federal issue of importance to all Australians. The fact that a national High Court challenge to our federal Constitution has been lodged should be headline news. But NT seats aren't important.

You can always try the Hare-Clarke voting system that Tasmania and ACT use. Its confusing and complex for voters, and a painful exercise in the counting, but all the experts tell me it's very representative and fair.