The state election marks the first time WA's Legislative Council will be selected from one single mass district. Supporters believe it will be a fairer reflection of the electorate but opponents say it will reduce regional representation as there is no longer a need for MPs to be based in the regions.
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00:00In the lead-up to the 2021 election, then-Premier Mark McGowan said his government wasn't looking
00:09to change the electoral system for the Upper House.
00:13It's not on our agenda. I've answered this question many times. It's not on our agenda.
00:18But after a landslide win, Premier McGowan swiftly called for an independent review of
00:23the way members are elected. It recommended a whole-of-state electorate, meaning the three
00:29metropolitan and the three regional districts were abolished, and 37 members will now be
00:35elected under a one-vote, one-value system.
00:38Western Australia is such a vast state, and the wealth of the state is produced in the
00:44region, and it's sparsely populated. So the question is, is the area where the wealth
00:49of the state is generated properly represented in the state parliament? And under the new
00:54set-up, that's a big question mark.
00:56According to the architect behind the previous voting system, the sweeping reforms will widen
01:03the city-country divide.
01:05I do think that in a very short space of time, what's going to happen is that all of the
01:11members of the Legislative Council will be elected from the metropolitan area or from
01:18other areas which aren't the north or the south of the state. I don't think that's a
01:24good thing, because I think the country areas are in a particularly distressing time now.
01:31Upper House Liberal MP Steve Thomas is worried the new system will leave regional voters
01:38voiceless in parliament.
01:40Yes, there will be some Labor members who come from the country, as there will be every
01:44other party. I still live in Donnybrook, so I come from the country as well. But overall,
01:49the representation will decrease. And that will mean it's harder for people in country
01:54WA to contact their local MP, to interact with them, and to tell them the important
01:59messages they need to get.
02:01Not so, says Premier Roger Cook.
02:04When the votes have finished being counted, we'll make sure that we have upper housing
02:08members right across the length and breadth of this state.
02:12With just 2.6 per cent of the vote now required to win an upper house seat, the next Legislative
02:18Council could represent a much broader set of political views.