Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (11:14): I rise today to speak on a number of reports, on the 2025 Prahran and Werribee by-elections and Victoria’s upper house –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Daniela De Martino): Member for Mornington, you may only speak on one report, just for your information, so choose wisely.

Chris CREWTHER: I rise to speak on committee reports, and I particularly want to focus today on Victoria’s upper house electoral system report. I would also like to note the words of the member for Tarneit before, as the chair of the Electoral Matters Committee. It has been a privilege to serve with him as the deputy chair of the Electoral Matters Committee, along with the member for Lowan and my colleague in the upper house Evan Mulholland, as well as other members. I would also like to note today I have Taj here in the chamber, who has just completed year 12 and who has assisted me with putting this speech together today.

We have considered a number of reports through our Electoral Matters Committee over this last year. I would like to, as I mentioned, focus on the upper house electoral report. In that report the committee recommends replacing group voting tickets, which as we have seen have been dodgy over a number of years and have been misutilised, with a system akin to that used by the federal Senate, which allows voters to mark multiple preferences above the line, with savings provisions to ensure votes remain valid even if fewer preferences are marked. We also recommend adopting the weighted inclusive Gregory method for surplus vote transfers to uphold the principle of one vote and one value. These changes will give voters real control over their preferences and end the backroom deals that distort outcomes, distort the trust of the Victorian public and lead to situations where someone with a very, very minimal vote ends up being a member of Parliament. The report also considers broader structural reform, including whether the Council should move from regional representation to a model whereby all members are elected from the state as a whole. This is a complex question that requires further consultation and, in our view, a referendum. The committee proposes a two-step process: first, abolish group voting tickets and introduce Senate-style voting before the next election; second, establish an independent process after the 2026 election to review the structure of the Council, with any major changes put to the people at a referendum later on, such as in 2028 or 2030.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Daniela De Martino): Member for Mornington, I have further advice which does allow you to speak on multiple reports, and apologies for that.

Chris CREWTHER: I also want to acknowledge the minority report from the Liberal and National members of the committee. As stated in the report, we strongly support the abolition of anti-democratic group voting tickets and believe this to be long overdue, while this state Labor government has resisted reform for years, having now been dragged effectively kicking and screaming to this position. Across multiple terms and for the last three years the Labor government has been aware of this issue and has failed to act, particularly noting the 2003 decision to entrench the regional structure of the Legislative Council in the state constitution, which has created an inflexibility to sensible reform.

Going to this other report, on Prahran and Werribee, I particularly want to note the evidence given by the member for Prahran, who had direct experience in that regard. Prahran recorded the lowest turnout of any recent by-election, at just over 68 per cent. While this was influenced by the timing during the late summer holiday period, demographic factors and the absence of a major party candidate, the committee recommends stronger communication strategies, including postal mail-outs and improvements to the accuracy of the electoral roll to improve future turnout. We also call for amendments to the Electoral Act 2002 to allow greater flexibility in timeframes and timelines so that key periods for future by-elections do not fall during Christmas and New Year. Persistent problems with the training of election staff were also identified, particularly around impartiality, vote counting and handling scrutineers. These issues must be urgently addressed, the issues raised by the member for Prahran and others must be addressed and we will continue to advocate for improvements to the process for by-elections and more.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Daniela De Martino): Once again I apologise to the member for Mornington for the confusion. He handled that beautifully.