Skye Predavec
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skyelark.bsky.social
Skye Predavec
@skyelark.bsky.social
280 followers 140 following 22 posts
Politics and sometimes even touching grass - Researcher @australiainstitute.org.au - all views my own - she/her
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Reposted by Skye Predavec
Another historic achievement in transparency by the Albanese govt: cratering the FOI system.
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
Reposted by Skye Predavec
Excited to be able to talk about this publicly now - The Point is now up and running and from Monday, you'll find my parliament blog on it 💃

thepoint.com.au
The Point
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
Reposted by Skye Predavec
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme keeps Australian medicines affordable, and Big Pharma hates it. Now Trump is angling for Australians to pay US style prices for life-saving drugs. @skyelark0 explains ⤵️ #auspol
What is the PBS and why does Trump hate it so much?
This is part of America’s long-standing grudge against Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
thepoint.com.au
Reposted by Skye Predavec
Proposed changes to Australia’s Freedom of Information (FOI) laws would make a repeat of the Robodebt coverup more likely according to new Australia Institute research.

‘Members of the public have a right to access government documents.'

- Skye Predavec, Researcher

@skyelark.bsky.social #auspol
Reposted by Skye Predavec
"What this Bill would do is make it harder and more expensive for Australians to get information from the government."

"FOI is not perfect, but this bill would make its issues much, much worse."

- Australia Institute Researcher Skye Predevac
#auspol @skyelark.bsky.social
Reposted by Skye Predavec
"Perhaps the single most effective democratic reform open to this Parliament is a large increase in the number of parliamentarians."

"More MPs would mean more local concerns are better represented."

Australia Institute researcher Skye Predevac
@skyelark.bsky.social #auspol
Reposted by Skye Predavec
That's true, though electorate officers aren't accountable to voters in the same way as an MP - and that way you don't get the other benefits of a bigger parliament.
Adding 50% more MPs would bring out electorates back to the size they were 40 years ago - and make our parliament one-vote-one-value for the first time ever.

australiainstitute.org.au/post/austral...
Reposted by Skye Predavec
Australian artists helped the nation survive the COVID pandemic, but our governments have left them in the lurch.

“If people can’t earn a living while making their art, newsflash, there’s not going to be a lot of art.”

- Skye Predavec, Anne Kantor Fellow

@skyelark.bsky.social #auspol
The polling I've seen shows the latter reason is stronger than the former- which actually enhances my point.

If a significant portion of Labor votes were cast because they seemed more likely to win and not because it was a voter's top choice, their 2/3rds share of seats is even less reflective.
Sure, but that's as true for any system as it is for ours. First past the post isn't designed to reflect any votes that aren't for 1st place candidates, but anyone who likes preferential voting would call that a flaw.

This post is about proportionality, and Aus does poorly on that measure.
It's true that going off first preferences is an imperfect measure- people would likely vote a little differently under a different system.

But the vast majority of voters put the party they want to win at 1, and our lower house electoral system isn't effective at reflecting those wishes.
That's why I lay the blame on winner-takes-all in this post!

I wouldn't agree that the system was designed to produce outcomes this disproportionate though, and that's what the point of the article is.
Australia's preferential voting system is often praised, and for good reason. But in terms of reflecting overall votes cast it's not much better than first past the post.

My look at how our winner-takes-all voting system skews election outcomes for @australiainstitute.org.au 👇 #auspol