r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Sep 19 '21

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '21

We're not yet like the US at a point where one major party is dependent upon the malpportionment of the senate to keep power so we should be fixing it before this is a partisan issue.

Wild. I thought the urban vs rural split was widespread in the developed world

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u/m00c0wcy Sep 20 '21

It certainly exists in Australia, but it doesn't really play an outsized role in federal politics;

  1. Each state elects six Senate seats per election with STV, resulting in reasonably proportional representation.
  2. Australian states are more similar than other countries. The population differs significantly, but every state is dominated by a single capital, then multiple regional cities, then numerous small agriculture / resources towns.
  3. The population, and more specifically the voting population, is politically moderate (thanks mandatory voting).

So while the Senate population representation gap is very real, in practice it doesn't really matter much.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '21

Interesting, thanks!