Wednesday, 13 May 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (17:32): I rise to speak on the Electoral Matters Committee report on group voting tickets. The report was tabled last year, and it could not have been any more clear in its first recommendation calling for reform ‘as soon as possible, so that the new voting system will apply at the 2026 state election’. Well, here we are, 163 days later, and not a whisper from the government about doing this. We are now less than 200 days away from the election, an election where Victorians can vote for a fresh start, and Jacinta Allan and Labor are cooling their heels and refusing to bring forward this vital reform that the Victorian Electoral Commission has stated in its response to the report is only possible if legislated by August, so we are running out of time. Jacinta Allan’s own MPs support this democratic reform. I am on the Electoral Matters Committee with a number of Labor colleagues, Mr Tarlamis included, and also Dylan Wight and the member for Preston as well – a number of MPs.

A report recently in the Guardian reported that one MP said the Premier had appeared reluctant to pursue the reform as it would benefit One Nation. No wonder why they have got delayed preselections on that side and many MPs concerned about the government’s delay on group voting tickets. The Liberals and Nationals have been consistent with our principles. We supported and still support the abolition of group voting tickets, even when the political tides turn. When we supported the abolition of group voting tickets last year, it was quite clear that the Greens would be the beneficiary of a change to group voting tickets. Labor MPs are basically admitting that Jacinta Allan, the Premier, is keen on denying the democratic will of voters through keeping this dodgy system.

Labor MPs have the audacity to lecture us about who we might and who we might not preference, but they are the only party keeping in place a system where the parties decide the preferences rather than the people.

The majority of the Electoral Matters Committee support this democratic reform. Kevin Bonham wrote quite a good blog, which I highly recommend you read, about the differences between how a system with group voting tickets and a system without group voting tickets would go under today’s climate with current polling, how it would not affect One Nation if they are indeed already polling at a quota and how it might even be bad news for Labor. That does not bode well for people sitting in number two positions and having delayed preselections. Labor Party state secretary Steve Staikos, in his evidence to the committee, said that group voting tickets:

… undermine voter intent, foster distrust, encourage ballot bloat and enable ‘preference whispering’ …

But this Premier, Jacinta Allan, refuses to act. refuses to possibly assist all the people stuck in number two positions on that side – or God forbid, number three – instead continuing to enable group voting tickets. They are the ones that are going to be at risk if we keep a system that allows preference whisperers to decide who gets elected rather than the Victorian people. We run the risk again. We have seen Avi Yemeni plans to register a free Palestine party and multiple other parties that would preference right-wing parties. That is just as bad as the ‘sack Dan Andrews’ party which was set up before the last election and which ended up preferencing Labor.

This government wants to keep in place a system where the parties decide who gets what preferences, not the Victorian people. It is shameful that the Premier is now reluctant to pursue group voting ticket reform, and it is shameful that members on the other side, including members of the Electoral Matters Committee that supported this reform, are refusing to stand up to their Premier to get this reform on the table. It needs to be done by August, yet the government refuses to pursue this reform. The Premier continues to drag her feet based on political reasons, putting her own self-interest above the interests of democracy overall. We need a system where the people, not the preference whisperers or the Labor backroom operators, decide where preferences go. The government needs to bring forward this reform.