In this episode I’m joined by Peter Brent and Amanda McCormack. We preview the by-elections in Mayo and Longman, and discuss the phenomenon of party-hopping in the Senate.
The next episode is due the week before the by-elections but I’ve pushed it back to be recorded and released on the day after the by-elections, so keep an eye out for that.
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I live in Mayo. Georgina Downer is not a local. She lived here fro whenshe was 5 years old & as a teenager until 1998. She has not lived here ever since. Here is a Biography I have put together for Mayo residents because we do not know this woman :
Who is Georgina Downer ?
[edited due to gross violation of comment policy. You can link to a post somewhere else if you insist, but don’t post 4000-word comments]
Thanks for the research. A lot to be aware of, thats for sure.
The Senate rules should be changed so that party hopping triggers a countback. The senator should be entitled to their below the line votes, but not their ticket votes. 6 years is far too long to wait to hold the party hopping senator accountable at the ballot box.
I’m more ok with lower house party hopping as 3 years is frequent enough to test whether the party hopper has enough of their own popularity to hold the seat. If we had 5 year fixed terms like the UK I’d support the immediate triggering of byelections on party hopping.
If someone elected for a party then if they decide to switch parties they should vacate that seat….
A by-election for the reps and a casual vacancy filled effectively by the party that elected them in first place….like Cheryl Kernot did
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