User:Skymann102/Drafts/1995 Australian Capital Territory electoral system referendum

A referendum was held in the Australian Capital Territory to entrench the Hare-Clark electoral system for future Legislative Assembly elections on 19 February 1995. The referendum was held at the same time as the 1995 general election.

Debate on Territory electoral system and 1992 referendum
After the inaugural general election in 1989, which resulted in a hung parliament with a large crossbench, there was considerable debate about the role that the electoral system (the D'Hondt method in an at-large electorate) played in the result.

At the same time as the 1992 general election, an advisory referendum was held on the future electoral system for elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory. The referendum asked voters whether they preferred that future elections be held under the Hare-Clark single transferable vote system with three multi-member electorates or an instant run-off single-member system similar to the Australian House of Representatives.

The Hare-Clark system won the referendum with over 65% of the vote.

Post-1992 referendum electoral system
After the 1992 referendum, the Assembly enacted the Hare-Clark system by passing the Electoral Act 1992. The Follett Labor minority government, which took office after the election held the same day, did not rule out possible changes frequently floating the possibility of replacing the Robson rotation with an above-the-line option to use a party ticket.

Section 26 of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government Act) 1988, which serves as the Territory's constitution, allows the Territory to entrench laws made by the Assembly by means of a referendum. A law passed this way can only be amended or repealed by the Assembly if the amending law is passed in the manner and form described in the law.

The Proportional Representation (Hare-Clark) Entrenchment Bill, which sought to entrench the basic features of the Territory's electoral system, was introduced as a private members' bill by Liberal MLA Gary Humphries. The Bill required that any change to these features be passed either by a two-thirds majority of the Assembly's members or a majority of electors at a referendum. Labor MLAs tried to add an above-the-line option to allow for party tickets, but it was voted down. Other government amendments to add compulsory voting and the number of seats in the Assembly into the list of entrenched provisions was adopted.

The Bill, as amended, passed with 16 votes in favour over the sole dissent of the Abolish Self Government Coalition's Dennis Stevenson.

Campaign
The ACT Electoral Commission prepared a pamphlet featuring arguments for-and-against the entrenchment proposal. The arguments in favour were authored by the sixteen members of the Assembly who voted in favour of the Bill while the arguments against were authored by Stevenson.

Arguments in favour
The main argument in favour of entrenching the Hare-Clark system was that it would place the basic features of the territory's electoral system beyond the reach of Territory politicians.

Arguments against
The arguments advanced by Stevenson in the booklet circulated by the Electoral Commission largely repeated the arguments against Hare-Clark raised in the 1992 referendum. Stevenson pointed to the decline in support for minor parties at the 1992 election, and the considerably increased quota for election under Hare-Clark, as evidence that Hare-Clark was biased in favour of the major parties.

Results
The referendum succeeded with large majorities in all three electorates voted in favour of entrenching the Hare-Clark system.

Legacy
In 2013, the Australian Parliament gave the Legislative Assembly the power to increase the number of seats in the Assembly by a two-thirds vote of Assembly members. In 2014, the number of seats was increased from the original 17 to 25, with five electorates electing five members each, starting from the 2016 general election.