Apr 24, 2025
With voting now underway for the 2025 federal election, we take
a look at the legislative and constitutional requirements governing
our electoral processes, the quirks of the Australian system, and
what – apart from the beloved “democracy sausage” – makes the
Australian way special.
In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy
speaks with Professor Donald Rothwell of the Australian National
University about his work in international law, how our electoral
system came to be at the time of Federation, the advantage for the
incumbent prime minister of the day, major changes we’ve seen to
our electoral laws, and how Australia ended up with a preferential
voting system.
Professor Rothwell also reflects on whether our current legislative
and constitutional frameworks are fit for purpose with our
elections, the appetite or otherwise for reform, the recent saga of
MPs who were dual nationals, whether job-sharing MPs will be a
thing of the future, the laws and processes governing minority
government, whether such governments are truly representative of
our democracy, and other interesting and quirky features of our
system.
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If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!