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Queensland has had a rocky history with its democratic system. Notoriously, Queensland used to be ruled by the iron fist of Premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson of the National Party.
Despite only winning 27.88% of the popular vote in the 1974 Queensland State election the National Party was able to secure 47.56% of the seats. This was because the electoral boundaries in Queensland were drawn in such a way to overwhelmingly benefit regional and rural Queensland.
Depending on where you lived, your vote could be significantly more powerful than someone living on the other side of the state. This system of “anti-one-vote one-value” meant that the National Party was able to secure Queensland for 32 years straight between 1957 to 1989.
It was an inherently undemocratic system that no one wishes to return to, unless they have undemocratic tendencies and wish to empower their own political base to the detriment of all else.
Now
Currently, the Queensland Redistribution Commission (QRC) is undertaking the task of redrawing Queensland’s electoral boundaries to account for population shifts since the last time the QRC redistributed the electorates in 2017.
Appointments to the QRC are typically apolitical to ensure the integrity of the commission. However, this year, Liberal National Party (LNP) Attorney-General Deb Frecklington announced to the opposition that she intended to appoint John Sosso.
Sosso is an individual who has a long history of being employed by LNP governments. He was a member of the Young Liberals when studying at the University of Queensland. He was director-general of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General between 2012 and 2015 during the infamous LNP Campbell Newman years.
There are concerns that this type of blatant partisan political appointment signals a return to the bad-old-days of the gerrymandered electorates in Queensland’s past.
Bureaucratic developments, such as appointments to redistribution commissions, are typically mundane and ignored by the media. However, the appointment of someone with biased views to such a body as the QRC, which is fundamental to Queensland’s democracy, is undoubtedly cause for concern.
Written by Samuel Wong
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