Letter

In response to How to address a democracy in retreat

Australia's evolving democracy

A discussion on Australian democracy retreat must include the ‘elephant in the room’ which is the gross misrepresentation produced by the current electoral system which gives artificial ‘majorities’ to the largest minority party.

At the 2025 Commonwealth election, the ALP won 34 per cent of the first preference vote, yet this resulted in winning 94 seats in the 150 seat lower house, i.e. 63 per cent.

The major parties have rigged the electoral system to deliberately steal seats from small parties and independents and allocate them to the biggest minority party in order to create parliamentary ‘stability” with a fake ‘majority’ and thereby prevent the ‘chaos’ of proportional representation.

The major parties know all about this blatant electoral rort and it is an ethical disgrace that they continue to defend and even strengthen it.

No wonder more and more people are voting for  anyone other than the morally bankrupt major parties and who knows whether this will end up as a democratic advance or retreat?

— George Cloughley from Cronulla, NSW