Extract from The Guardian
When can it be called? How will voting work? What are the minor party changes? Here’s what we know so far
Last modified on Sun 12 Sep 2021 06.01 AEST
The last few months of Australian politics have been so overwhelmed with the east coast’s growing Covid outbreak that it would be easy to forget that there is a federal election looming somewhere on the horizon.
But during the last sitting week of parliament, some Guardian liveblog readers had questions about when should we expect it, how voting will work in Covid times and what the latest minor party changes mean.
Here’s what we know so far.
What is the last possible date for the next election?
Parliament is on a six-week break from 3 September to 18 October, which caused rumours to abound that the election would be in October.
That looks increasingly unlikely because a) the polls are not in the government’s favour; b) it would have to be a virtual election because of border closures; and c) that coincides with when New South Wales daily Covid cases and hospitalisations are expected to peak.
No one knows when the election will be except the prime minister, but at the moment, the smart money is on an election being called after Australia Day for February/March.
As for the last possible date (and we are talking standard election here: the lower house and half the Senate), that’s Saturday 21 May 2022.
How long or short can the election campaign be?
We asked the Australian Electoral Commission to confirm this one for us:
The shortest possible time period between the issue of writs (documents enabling House and Senate elections) and election day is 33 days, while the longest is 58 days. Writs are usually (but not always) issued on the same day that the governor general dissolves the House of Representatives.
How will the AEC run an election with Covid?
Well, they already have run elections during the pandemic. Both the Eden-Monaro and Groom byelections were held, and there are state and local examples as well – Queensland held both.
“Consistent with other services during the pandemic, the delivery of voting services will be different depending on the societal circumstances in place during the election period.
“In saying that, the AEC must operate within electoral laws that, for the vast majority of Australians, provide for a combination of in-person and postal voting. Within these electoral laws, we are planning to effectively cater for the needs of all Australian voters, including those most vulnerable to Covid-19. At the forefront of our planning is the safety of Australian voters, their access to voting and, as always, the utmost integrity of election results.
“We have participated in the inquiry on the conduct of elections during times of emergency situations and continue to liaise with many different stakeholders regarding the implementation of electoral processes in diverse scenarios.
“As all Australians would expect, we are monitoring the environment very closely, and planning for various election delivery scenarios in regular consultation with federal and state/territory health authorities. Regardless of when a federal election is conducted, some of the Covid-19 safety measures in place will be ones that Australians are familiar with through their daily lives over the past year and a half. Whenever a federal election is announced, we will communicate clearly and regularly with Australian voters about their voting options and the Covid-19 safety measures we have put in place.”
What do the minor party legislation changes mean?
Name changes and a rush for 1,500 members, mostly.
The legislation, which passed with the support of Labor, gives a major party a monopoly on the words which appear in its name. So the Liberal Democrats and the New Liberals will need permission from the Liberal party to have “Liberal” in their names for the ballot paper, which they are unlikely to get, given the Liberals have already challenged their use of the term.
Parties will also need to have either a member in parliament (which means Clive Palmer’s UAP is safe, with Craig Kelly now sitting as a UAP MP) or 1,500 members to be registered. That’s up from the previous threshold of 500.
Changes are also being made to how long pre-poll (voting before the official election day) can stay open. It’s been reduced to a maximum of 12 days before the election date. That was changed to address a growing trend of people heading to the polls before the election, which frustrated the major parties because it meant their campaigns were not having the impact they wanted. About 4.7 million people voted early in the last federal election and another 1.4 million had sent in their votes by post, which is about four out of 10 voters.
Can independents form government?
Not unless they can form a coalition that would give them the majority in the lower house. In the case of neither major party getting enough seats (76), then the negotiations begin on who will work with whom – we saw this most recently after the 2010 election, when Labor governed with the support of the crossbench.
Can the governor general sack the government?
This question comes up a lot. No one should want for this to happen since the foundation of Australia’s parliamentary democracy is that the Australian people choose their representatives for the term of government (three years or so).
But the “reserve powers” of the governor general were used when John Kerr sacked Gough Whitlam in 1975. It was controversial then and it is controversial now. Whitlam faced issues of supply when he couldn’t get his money bills through the Senate. He wanted a half-Senate election. Kerr dismissed him on the grounds he didn’t have supply and appointed Malcolm Fraser as interim prime minister. Fraser then went to Kerr and asked to dissolve both houses of the parliament.
It would be a very, very brave governor general who attempted anything similar again. Convention is that the governor general acts on the advice of the government of the day in dissolving the parliament.
Does the AEC have influence over the election date?
No. That’s up to the prime minister.
Other than making sure the election is called within set term limits (hence the 21 May date), not having set terms means the government of the day has the power to decide when you head to the polls, and no one else. The AEC recently caused a lot of eyebrows to raise when it advertised on social media for people to register to work during the election. That’s not because the AEC has any advance knowledge, but because it’s approaching the six month deadline for when an election has to be held
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