I am Ethan Swinton and I have spent the past week (24-28 June 2024) in the office of Michael Pettersson MLA at the ACT Legislative Assembly. It was an amazing and fascinating experience where I learnt about the political process and how the Legislative Assembly functions. Throughout this week, I was tasked with writing an adjournment speech that Michael would present in the chamber at the adjournment of the Assembly. The topic I selected for this speech was evaluating different Australian electoral systems, particularly the Hare-Clark electoral system used here in the ACT.
On my first day, I arrived at the Assembly and was led to Michael’s office where my supervisor, Jasmine Dickinson, gave me a briefing on how the office worked and what my task was for the week. My account was set up by the IT department and I was given free reign to develop my speech. I was also given a tour of the various facilities of the Legislative Assembly and the reasoning behind their designs. This included the committee rooms, where the detail of legislation is discussed, evaluated, and finalised before being brought before the chamber. There are also large windows which allow the public to view these proceedings, symbolising political transparency. I also saw the chamber, where the seating placements have symbolic meaning such as the government on the right, the opposition on the left and the positioning of the cabinet in the centre and the backbenchers seated further on the edges.
I was also greatly intrigued by the events which transpired in the chamber while it was in session, which was a fantastic opportunity to observe the ACT’s political process firsthand. Over the three days of this sitting week, several fascinating topics came up which I was able to witness. This included a debate on the merits of nuclear power, which saw Labor argue that it was not sustainable, would cost the taxpayers greatly and would not come to fruition for decades. There was also a debate surrounding the Property Developers Bill 2023, which achieved consent from all parties despite a number of grievances against parts of the bill aired by the Liberals. I also attended multiple question time sessions which saw the opposition and government backbenchers question the cabinet on their portfolios. This would see the opposition criticise the government’s policies, and governmental backbenchers highlight their success. These debates were brilliant in that they highlighted the processes behind the decisions the government makes and the laws that govern the everyday lives of the people.
The majority of my time in Michael Pettersson’s office was spent compiling the speech he would present in the Chamber on Thursday evening. The topic was Australian electoral systems, where I focused on the Hare-Clark electoral system and the single member preferential voting system. Hare-Clark is where multiple members are elected from a single electorate by fulfilling a quota of votes, any votes past this quota are transferred to the second-choice candidate, reducing the number of votes lost. I also investigated the main alternative to Hare-Clark used in Australia, single member preferential voting. As the name suggests, it elects a single candidate from each electorate and the voters outlines their preferences while voting. The votes are counted and if no one has reached an absolute majority, the lowest ranked candidate is eliminated, and their votes redistributed. This is repeated until a winner is determined. This system is significantly less representative as due to electing only one member, it leaves just under half of the electorate with a representative they did not support. I found that the Hare-Clark system, however, negates this through electing multiple members in one electorate, electing members which represent an array of political views. This research I conducted both increased my understanding of our electoral systems and through the assistance of Jasmine and Michael, helped increase my speechwriting skills also.
The time I spent at Michael’s office was invaluable and increased my knowledge of the functions of government. It gave me a crucial insight into the everyday work done in a politician’s office and hoe the government effectively governs hundreds of thousands of people. Thanks to the assistance of Michael, Jasmine, Harry, and Liam during my time at the Legislative Assembly, my week here has been truly memorable.
