Thursday, 27 August 2026

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (17:28): (1813) My adjournment is for the Premier, and the action I seek is for the Premier to take measures to increase public understanding of preferential voting before the next election. It is time to talk about how preferences work. This November Victorians will vote to elect the next state government, decided by whichever party wins the majority of the 88 seats in the lower house, made up of local members representing their electorates. Our preferential voting system makes sure that when Victorians vote, each vote counts. In each electorate voters need one person to represent their area. The way our system works, voters rank candidates as number 1, 2, 3 and so on. This preferential system exists so that no-one’s vote is wasted. If a voter’s first choice cannot win, their vote still counts. First, all the number 1 votes, called the primary votes, are counted. If a candidate at that point has more than 50 per cent of the votes, they win. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. People who voted for them do not have their ballot papers thrown out; each one is passed on to whichever candidate the voter has marked as their next preference – their number 2. Then the count is checked again, and this process repeats with the candidate with the fewest votes eliminated until one candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the vote. That is how preferential voting works. This process of elimination guarantees a clear majority winner, one that every voter’s ballot has had a say in deciding.

In the upper house, voters have two options: they can vote above the line, numbering the parties in the order they prefer; or they can vote below the line, voting for individual candidates, not just the party they are with. At every step it is Victorians’ own choice of preferences that decides where their vote goes, and anyone’s how-to-vote card is simply a suggestion for how they should order their preferences. Parties do not decide voters’ preferences, Victorians do, numbering the boxes on their ballot in their preferred order.

I speak to people all the time who tell me, ‘I never voted for Labor. I don’t know how they got in again.’ Well, Victorians’ number one votes are important, but it is also important how they order their preferences after that, and often that is what decides the election outcome and who is in government. It means Victorians’ vote 1 is important – their preferred winner – but it also matters how they are ordered after that. If Victorians want to vote for a party that will reduce crime, lower costs and deliver a government that works, they should put the Liberals and Nationals first. Every vote will count this November; it is time for a fresh start.

And finally, on indulgence, we thank you, Speaker, for your service to your community and for your time in office and wish you the very best for the future.