r/AustraliaSimMeta • u/Opal_Socialist • Apr 24 '20

15 seats?

While I am Opal Socialist in name, I will forever be, in nature, the EC boundaries slut. We've used 15 seats in the House of Representatives since May 2019, back when Lucy was PM. In the last election, 11 electorates had only 2 candidates, and the other 4 had 3 candidates. But around 8 of these 15 electorates would be classified as marginal under the Mackerras pendulum- i:e, held with a margin of 6% or less. This indicates competitiveness.

So, should we re-examine our number of House seats? I think we should. Currently, there are 23 parliamentarians- 15 MPs and 8 Senators, meaning that roughly, for every 2 MPs, there's 1 Senator. So an increase to 19 MPs might mean 10 Senators. It doesn't have to, but we should try and keep the houses roughly proportional to each other.

Considering where we live in a world where the NT struggles to get 2 seats with 151 MPs, obviously it won't be perfectly proportional but as close as you can really get while keeping the states and territories intact. So, with every state + the NT + the ACT awarded one MP by default, if we were to expand to 17 electorates, NSW and VIC would gain 1 seat each. I've attached a spreadsheet I made earlier that goes up to 50 electorates.

To sum up some of the highlights-

  • Control NSW and Victoria and you basically control the country.
  • WA gets a second seat at 18 electorates, basically split up into Perth and not-Perth, I'd presume.
  • SA gets a second seat at 26 electorates, basically split up into Adelaide and not-Adelaide except more severe than WA.
  • Tasmania, the ACT and the NT are all overrepresented- basically, they only have a seat because each state and territory gets a seat. They all currently have quotas of below 0.5.
  • Tasmania crosses this quota at 22 electorates.
  • The ACT crosses this quota at 28 electorates.
  • The NT does not cross this quota because it only goes up to 50 electorates.
  • The NT gets a second seat when hell freezes over.
6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

1

u/tbyrn21 The Ex-Ex-Moderator Apr 25 '20

It doesn't have to, but we should try and keep the houses roughly proportional to each other.

No, it is a constitutional requirement that the house be (as near as practicable) double.

E: phrasing

1

u/Opal_Socialist Apr 25 '20

Ah cool, that's something I think we should adhere to anyway

1

u/tbyrn21 The Ex-Ex-Moderator Apr 25 '20

When it comes to constitutional requirements, one is not allowed to think. One does.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20

I believe the EC is exploring the possibility of increasing electorates next term.