The senate and proportional representation: public policy justifications of minority representation
Abstract
This paper was originally prepared as an historical background paper for a conference to mark the 50 th anniversary of the introduction of proportional representation in the Australian Senate. The paper answers the historical question: why did Australia adopt proportional representation for the Senate? The bare facts are well known: in 1948 the Chifley government initiated amendments to the Electoral Act to alter the existing method of counting the Senate vote which had traditionally rewarded the majority party with a disproportionately large share of Senate seats. Labor itself had a Senate majority of 33 to 3 after the 1946 election. But why did the Chifley government introduce proportional representation? The standard answer, given by Opposition leader Menzies at the time, was that Labor knew that it would lose the 1949 election (and probably most of its contested Senate seats) and so devised this change to consolidate its parliamentary power base in the Senate to frustrate the expected Menzies government. This answer is yes as far as it goes. But a fresh review of the historical record shows that the 1948 decision was really the final stage in a frequently-deferred plan of parliamentary reform that goes back to Federation. Even before Federation, many prominent constitutional framers had expected the first Parliament to legislate for proportional representation for the Senate. Sure enough, the Barton government included Senate proportional representation in the original Electoral Act, but this was rejected in the Senate on the plausible ground that it would undermine the established conventions of strong party government. But over time even the partisans of strong party government came round to see the merits of the original plan. At many stages between the first Parliament and 1948, advocates of proportional representation moved for its adoption for Senate elections, with many party leaders joining the ranks of parliamentary reform: conservative leaders such as Cook, Page, Bruce, McEwen; and Menzies; and even Labor leaders such as Scullin, Curtin and Chifley. This paper summarises the history of early hopes and delayed fulfillment.