Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to address an issue. Believe it or not, there are more than the gentleman who has sat through this with us tonight in the gallery. I received an email from someone a little while ago who would like to get the minister to explain: if a voter has to mark at least six boxes above the line, why are Senate voters not required to vote for at least 36 below-the-line boxes for a half-Senate election and 72 below-the-line boxes for a full-Senate election? What is the rationale for picking 12?