The Tally Room

109 - Finding the electoral sweet spot

Ben is joined by Dr Simon Hix from the European University Institute to discuss a paper he co-wrote with John Carey about finding the Electoral Sweet Spot: how low-magnitude proportional representation systems tend to combine the best of majoritarian and proportional systems.

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108 - Inside a party’s redistribution submission

Shane Easson has been drawing up redistribution submissions for the Australian Labor Party since 1984. This year he's not doing the Labor submission for New South Wales, although he is working on those in some other states, and he came on the podcast to talk about how it works, the things you've got to consider when writing such a submission, and whether they have any influence on the outcome.

We also discuss some of the likely outcomes of the current NSW federal redistribution and the need to change some names.

This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.

You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $5 or more per month.

This podcast is sponsored by Zencastr. Use my special link to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan.

107 - Boundary delimitation, straight from Malaysia

Today's podcast was recorded at the roundtable on Boundary Delimitation and Malapportionment in Asia and the Pacific held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 28-29, 2023. The event was hosted by Indonesian NGO Perludem and Malaysian organisations Bersih and Tindak Malaysia, in coordination with International IDEA.

I attended to present on Papua New Guinea's electoral boundaries and while there I recorded interviews with six of the other participants.

In this episode you'll hear from:

• Niranjan Sahoo, from India
• Heroik Pratama, from Indonesia
• Wong Chin Huat, from Malaysia
• Luie Guia, from the Philippines
• Enkhtsetseg Dagva, from Mongolia
• Adhy Aman, from International IDEA

Thanks to everyone for joining me.

Read the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Apportionment and Boundary Delimitation.

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106 - Voice referendum wrap-up

Ben is joined by William Bowe from the Poll Bludger to recap the results of the Voice referendum.

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105 - Voice referendum final week

Ben is joined today by Peter Brent to wrap up the referendum campaign. We discuss the state of the polls, the relative position of the states, whether the low Yes vote can really be blamed on the state of the campaign or by the fundamental referendum trends, and what data points might line up with the results on Saturday.

This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.

104 - New Zealand election preview

Ben is joined by James Mulrennan from The Overhang. We preview next weekend's New Zealand national election, touching on the electoral system, the state of the parties and the polls, and the potential shape of the next government.

This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.

103 - A history of Indigenous elections in Australia

Ben is joined by historian Alison Holland, who is researching the history of ATSIC, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. We discuss the history and current existence of Indigenous elected institutions around Australia, including ATSIC and its predecessors at a federal level, regional land councils and state Voices that have started to pop up.

• Alison's article in The Conversation about why those who claim that ATSIC failed have put the blame in the wrong place.

This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.

102 - A history of Australian referendums

Ben is joined by Paul Kildea and Andre Brett to discuss the history of Australian referendums. We discuss the historical origins of referendums at both the state and federal level, the dynamics of referendum campaigns, how different states tend to vote, the voters' bias towards the status quo, and discuss some of our favourite referendums.

We reference some fairly obscure referendums, including the 1928 referendum in the Australian Federal Territory on ending prohibition, the 1951 and 1965 Wool Reserve Prices referendums, the national song poll of 1977 and the unsuccessful attempt to extend hotel opening hours prior to the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

• Paul's article on state and territory referendums in the Sydney Law Review
• The 2016 article "An Absent Negative" by Russell McGregor about the absence of a No campaign in the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal affairs

This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.

101 - Group voting tickets and ward changes in Victoria

Ben is joined by psephologist Henry Schlechta to discuss two issues of democratic reform in Victoria: the arguments around abolishing group voting tickets, and the implementation of single-member wards for urban Victorian councils. Sadly this isn't a story of Victoria improving its electoral systems - mostly they are getting worse or staying the same.

• Ben's podcast with Kevin from November 2022 discussing the problems with group voting tickets.
• Ben's estimates of who would have won seats in the Victorian upper house under different systems.
• Ben's blog post about the single-member ward reviews happening in Victoria.

This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.

100 - Redistributions all over Australia

Ben is joined by ABC chief election analyst Antony Green for the 100th episode of the Tally Room podcast to discuss the many redistributions currently underway around Australia: federal redistributions, state and territory redistributions and even local council ward redistributions.

We discuss the population trends affecting the drawing of federal boundaries, the process of drawing, and how we make estimates of margins in new electorates.

• Read Antony's most recent post about prospects for the NSW federal redistribution.

This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.