AGM 2008 New life members & President’s Report

The Branch’s AGM was held on 13th October 2008, at 74 Thompson Street, Drummoyne at 7.30 pm.

John Webber and John Alexander have been named honorary life members, moved by John Baglin and passed by popular acclaim at the PRSA (NSW) 2008 AGM. Their life membership is a token of recognition by the committee of many years of service to the society and to the cause of electoral reform in Australia.

Congratulations and thank you to John Webber and John Alexander!

President’s Report – 2008

I came into this job somewhat unexpectedly. Stephen Lesslie and I attended the AGM in 2006 because he was keen to have his PR proposal for the House of Representatives read and to get some feedback on it. We were received graciously, and the egg sandwiches were really nice.

We attended the 2007 AGM – maybe it was for the egg sandwiches – and were saddened to see even fewer numbers there than in 2006. I was nominated for the Committee, and, as it would have seemed churlish to say no, I accepted the nomination. The rest of the Committee then made me President, which was a shock, but I gulped and said OK.

John [Webber], John [Alexander] and John [Baglin] have been very supportive (and I can always remember their names).

PRSA (NSW) activities in the past twelve months have included:

  • The NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2007 Election, at which Stephen and I gave evidence, focusing on the Legislative Council and recommending the removal of above-the-line voting and group voting tickets. The Inquiry seemed to be more focused on the actual election day and the practicalities of voting, rather than on the bigger issues.
  • The NSW Branch wrote to Lee Naish (Webmaster) recommending a review of the PRSA website which is messy and hard to use. We have not had a reply to that letter. How the NSW Branch relates to the PRSA as a whole needs to be investigated and considered.
  • The NSW Branch resolved to set up its own website, which is in progress.
  • Stephen Lesslie addressed the January meeting this year and presented his proposal for the election of the Australian Parliament.
  • Stephen and I met with Lee Rhiannon and the NSW Greens earlier this month to discuss his proposal for the NSW Parliament and PR in general.
  • We have distributed 2 issues of Largest remainder to members and others in an attempt to re-establish communication with members and to create a public profile.
  • We have started to look at the revision of the PR manual, but this requires cooperation from the wider PRSA.

Looking to the future, I would like to see PRSA (NSW):

  • Adopt a public campaign to abolish above-the-line voting and the associated group voting tickets in federal, state and local government elections. There is no point in tinkering with the intricacies of transfer values if the basic system is not right.
  • Take action against the persistence of 2-member wards particularly in Botany Bay and Ku-ring-gai Councils, an appalling denial of democracy to the residents of those areas. There are other local government issues that could also be tackled.
  • Campaign for the adoption of a genuine PR electoral system for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. If the NSW Greens are keen to pursue this, then we should give them every assistance.

Susan Gregory
13 October 2008