The following article appeared on the Weekly Times which calls itself “the voice of the country since 1869” and is published by News Limited.

NSW Farmers Association voting confusion

READERS might remember in 2007 when federal Labor pollie Barry Jones released his plan for the Knowledge Nation.
It contained a diagram so incomprehensible the media referred to it as “spaghetti and meatballs”.
Well, the NSW Farmers Association has created its own spaghetti-and-meatballs moment with a change in their voting system for office bearers. NSW Farmers Association has gone to a proportional voting system that may need NASA’s computers to process it.
Back Paddock will not attempt to explain it, mainly because we can’t, even after reading one of the explanatory notes (pictured) sent to delegates.
Whatever happened to a show of hands?

Show of hands? Whatever happened to the concept of a secret ballot?

The Weekly Times makes itself look foolish in its attempt to belittle the NSW Farmers’ Association’s decision to adopt proportional representation. It might be too difficult for “Back Paddock” but anyone with basic primary school mathematics can count a proportional representation ballot.

Computers may be helpful but are not needed. Proportional representation has been used in New South Wales to elect local government representatives since the 1950s and in Tasmania to elect their House of Assembly for over one hundred years.

More to the point, however, proportional representation is ideal for organisations such as the NSW Farmers’ Association, representing as it does thirteen separate districts and many different and diverse groups such as dairy farmers and oyster growers. Members of the NSW Farmers’ Association can now be confident that in its deliberations the concerns of this wide group will be represented.