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Fruits & Votes is the Web-log of Matthew S. Shugart ("MSS"), Professor of Political Science, University of California, Davis.

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  • 17 March 2013

    Planted by Alan
    Planted in: Australia

    The Northern Territory has a new chief minister. That is perhaps not notable enough for fructovotantes except that Giles is Austraia’s first indigenous head of government and for the manner in which he deposed his predecessor. Terry Mills was replaced as leader of the Country Liberal Party, and therefore as chief minister, while attending a trade mission in Japan. Presumably he phoned in his resignation to the Administrator of the Territory.

    That makes two head of government removals on the Coalition side in a fortnight.

    Propagation: Seeds & scions (3)


    3 ideas sprouting »

    1. Ironically, only Thursday last week I was listening to Murri [*] Country community radio station in Queensland. The host and interviewee (both Indigenous blokes) mentioned Adam Giles’ move for the NT CLP leadership. Both agreed that (a) Giles could have had the Deputy position on demand without a contest, but (b) the CLP caucus was not ready to dump Terry Mills, so (c) by demanding the top job – “wanting to be king and not settle for prince,” one of the two described it – Giles had sunk his hopes for the foreseeable future and would have to do a lot of bridge-building.

      Well.

      [*] “Murri” = Aborigines in the Queensland area. Overseas news reports sometimes use “Koori” for all indigenous peoples but it properly means the New South Wales/ Victoria regions only. Australia’s Indigenous population, unlike its population generally, is concentrated in Queensland, the Northern Territory and the north of Western Australia, so while Kooris are more familiar and proximate to the media and political players in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, they are a minority among first nations Australians overall. “Aborigine” and (as an adjective, not a noun) “Aboriginal” are, to my knowledge, quite acceptable in current usage.

      Seed planted by Tom Round — 17 March 2013 @ 20:39

    2. Deposed in a coup while out of the country. As political footnotes go, that’s picturesque at least.

      There is something of the golpista in every Australian politician, isn’t there?

      Seed planted by DC — 19 March 2013 @ 04:24

    3. I blame single-menber electorates. I am sure the members of the Tasmanian house of assembly and the ACT legislative assembly would never stoop so low.

      Seed planted by Alan — 19 March 2013 @ 13:31

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    Recent comments.

  • Do UK elections now allow fusion candidacies? (12)
    • Tom Round: Chris @9: “but in not having an UKIP opponent to siphon votes from the right.” Good point. However, given voluntary voting...
    • MSS: UKIP did admit during the recent local election campaign that it did not fully vet its candidates, due to (it was claimed) resource...
    • Chris: UKIP’s candidates for Parliament and MEP do indeed seem to need National Executive Committee Approval before being placed on the...
    • Chris: I think the key thing in being a Conservative-UK IP candidate might not be in having both of their emblems, but in not having an UKIP...
    • MSS: Here is the text (see Jaffr’s link): After paragraph (2A) insert— “(2AA)If a candidate who is the subject of an authorisation by...
    • MSS: Let me call attention here to Jaffr. at comment #1, who notes the amendment to the ballot law was passed earlier in 2013. (This comment was...
    • Tom Round: > “would officially be Conservative-Li beral on the ballot” The UK only adopted ballot labels in the early 1970s, and...
  • Is MMP in Ireland’s future? (7)
    • Wilf Day: Ireland’s Constitutional Convention is a very interesting model of an electoral reform process. It includes 66 randomly selected...
    • MSS: Yes, electoral-syste m change would require a constitutional amendment, which is why it is a topic of the Constitutional Convention. The...
    • Alan: I expect the sixth and last senate place to be decided by very small margins in a number of states. Voting below the line will have more than...
    • Tom Round: Sorry, I should clarify: A legal change to an explicit party list system would indeed require a referendum to amend the Constituti...
    • JD: Tom: I think the Irish probably DO like getting a choice among different candidates of the same party. Whether their leaders like offering that...
  • Distortions of the US House: It’s not how the districts are drawn, but that there are (single-seat) districts (30)
    • Ed: This is another article where the writer attempted to draw non-partisan districts, using a set of criteria an independent commission could...
  • Does STV have anything to do with absence of “free votes” in Ireland? (16)
    • MSS: I was sort of hoping this thread would be about free votes and STV’s possible role in them, but whatever… Uruguay has primary...
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