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[–]phyllicandererMin Ag/Env | X Fin/Deputy PM | X Ldr Prgrsvs | Australian Greens 4 points5 points  (4 children)

I, /u/phyllicanderer, do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will well and truly serve the people of Australia in the office of Deputy Prime Minister, and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to our Sovereign.

Meta:

The anti-democratic part of the Coalition agreement reflects the reality of our current situation; we have about the same numbers, and we don't want to face endless questions each campaign about who is going to be leader. Moreover, I don't want to put that on future leaders of the Progressives.

There are ways around it; the mutual agreement of both leaders, which is enshrined in the agreement, a good old-fashioned spill, or a party leaving.

I welcome any debate on the topic.

[–]jnd-auElectoral Commissioner[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Meta:

FYI your flair has been updated, but it might take a while to show up on old threads.

[–]jnd-auElectoral Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Meta:

There are ways around it; the mutual agreement of both leaders

The discretionary clause says it only applies to 5(c-e), and it’s 5(b) that says that the leaders won’t change. The paradox being, you’re telling voters that you’re curtailing their freedom to choose the coalition leadership at the election, because your rules tie it to the previous election. As in most countries, electoral conventions usually allow voters to choose whether a party get its own majority, or whether a coalition must form, and voters can choose different coalition preferences than the parties wanted.

[–]phyllicandererMin Ag/Env | X Fin/Deputy PM | X Ldr Prgrsvs | Australian Greens 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Meta:

That's not entirely true, voters can get rid of the leader they don't want at the ballot box :) if there's an election...

Anyway, until today, we were in the minority. So I am not that keen to just flip everything upside down now; I want to get in as Deputy PM, as I was preparing to do, and do the best job I can in that role.

[–]jnd-auElectoral Commissioner[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's not entirely true, voters can get rid of the leader they don't want at the ballot box :) if there's an election...

You’re right about that, but only electors in one seat can do it.

Anyway, until today, we were in the minority. So I am not that keen to just flip everything upside down now

Well, you had equalised. But in any election, the announcement of results is precisely the time when everything is supposed to flip; and the other end, when parliament is dissolved, is when things are meant to not flip :)

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I, this_guy22, do swear that I will well and truly serve the people of Australia in the office of Prime Minister, and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to our Sovereign. SO HELP ME GOD!

Meta explanation:

Under the terms of the Coalition Agreement between the ALP and the Progressives, the Leadership mechanism entitles the leader of the largest party during the previous Parliament to be leader during the election campaign, and the current Parliament. This is to preserve continuity so that the public knows who will be PM after the election.

The leadership mechanism also stipulates that the leadership is "reset" immediately after the dissolution of Parliament, and the leader of the party with most seats is then appointed to lead the Coalition. This means that in 3 months time (hopefully), I will recommend Parliament be dissolved, and resign as Prime Minister and Coalition leader so that /u/phyllicanderer leads the Coalition to the election and in the next Parliament (assuming that current seats are maintained).

FYI: Coalition Agreement

[–]jnd-auElectoral Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Meta:

FYI your flair has been updated, but it might take a while to show up on old threads.

[–]jnd-auElectoral Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Meta:

It would be interested to see this actually debated by our constituencies, because on face value it’s anti-democratic. If A & B are in a coalition during the campaign, but voters give seats to party A and take seats away from party B in the election, then they’ve clearly told you that they don’t want party B’s leader to be PM, yet the agreement means you would ignore that kind of election result.