Don’t pay a deposit on renting a BBQ for your July 2 election day fund-raising sausage sizzle just yet. Listening to comments from some of the independents in the Senate, one might think the whole early sitting is all about them, getting rid of them if they don’t support the government’s union clean-up legislation. Obviously these independents seek to cast themselves as victims, as the badgered and the blackmailed. That’s not how I see it. The people of Australia elected this government. Governments can’t be dictators for three years; the Senate is there as a house of review. The increased size of the House of Representatives and thus of the Senate makes the likelihood of either major party having control of the upper house remote (because the proportion of votes, or quota, needed to get elected is reduced and it is therefore easier for minor candidates to win a spot). Thus there is a creative tension between the two houses. Any opposition can use the independents to cause havoc.
This is what Bill Shorten has done. Labor in future gets the benefit of the revamped voting system and in the meantime he can tell the independents he really loves them. Thus, they may side with him to block the union clean-up.
The constitution provides a mechanism for resolving deadlocks. The Prime Minister can simply say “OK, let’s let the people decide”. That sounds good to me. Why do these independents think us having the deciding role is not a good thing?
There are two groups of senators for whom a double dissolution is a threat, and one for whom it’s a risk. First, those who are not likely to get back even when they only have to earn half the quota they ended up with at the last full Senate election. In other words, those who without complicated preference swaps have not a hope in hell of getting elected. There won’t be much weeping for them. Second, those senators who vote against something the public really want. Boo-hoo if they lose their seat, because the people will have spoken.
Full Article: Don’t bet yet on a double-dissolution election.