Labor accused of robbing voters of preferential voting system without consultation

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has robbed about 1.8 million Queenslanders of their preferred method of voting ahead of the next state election.

Hon Annastacia Palaszczuk Member for Inala (ALP) Premier and Minister for the Arts, speaks during Question time at QLD State Parliament - Photo Steve Pohlner

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has robbed about 1.8 million Queenslanders of their preferred method of voting ahead of the next state election.

Analysis by the Queensland Electoral Commission shows more than 60 per cent of voters prefer “Just Vote 1” which was controversially killed off without consultation.

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The extraordinary support for optional preferential voting was detailed in a report by former Attorney-General Cameron Dick when the Bligh government, battling lowly primary support, considered ditching optional preferential voting before the 2012 election.

It found one of the key advantages of optional preferential voting was that it may “empower voters” by not forcing them to allocate their preferences for candidates who they did not actually support.

“The Queensland Electoral Commission found that approximately 63.03 per cent of ballot papers were marked ‘1 only’,” Mr Dick’s report said.

“At the 2006 election, 62.15 per cent of surveyed ballot papers fell into this category.”

Queensland currently has about three million people enrolled to vote.

The Queensland Premier (pictured) is facing a storm of criticism from experts for reintroducing compulsory preferential voting without any community consultation and just 18 minutes notice to the Parliament.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is accused of denying Queenslanders a choice. Photo: Steve Pohlner

Constitutional expert Graeme Orr, election analyst Antony Green and former Labor premier Peter Beattie have all questioned the decision to deny voters the option not to preference. Ms Palaszczuk and her ministers have claimed the shift was necessary to create consistency with federal elections.

Compulsory preferencing will give Labor an advantage with the party’s primary support at about 37 per cent while support for the Greens grows.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said Ms Palaszczuk had denied a choice to Queenslanders of all political persuasions.

“If Annastacia Palaszczuk believes this is the right thing to do then why didn’t she do it the right way?” he said.

“If you are going to deny 1.8 million people their preferred choice of voting then they deserve more than 18 minutes’ notice,” he said.

A spokesman for Ms Palaszczuk yesterday said 1.1 million votes had been “uncounted” over the past six elections under optional preferential voting.

“As the Premier and the Attorney-General have made clear, the change will bring Queensland into line with the majority of other states and see Queensland use the same system that will be used at the federal election expected on July 2,” he said.