Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The government will not be supporting these amendments. The ordering of candidates by political parties is, of course, transparently presented to voters on the Senate ballot paper, unlike the very complex, insufficiently transparent and opaque group-voting ticket arrangements, which could direct preferences in three different directions. The voter has a clear choice of supporting the political party of their choice and who they want to vote for and preference with their first preference and who they want to preference with any subsequent preference. Of course, by voting above the line, a voter accepts the ordering of candidates as presented by relevant parties that are supported with the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or subsequent preference. Anyone who wants to directly control the ordering of candidates themselves can do so very easily by voting below the line. Indeed, we have made that easier than under the current system because, under the current system, you have to fill in every single box, subject to some savings provisions; whereas, under our proposed reforms, people will just have to number at least 12 boxes, indicating a preference of 1 to 12.