So this is Democracy at work !
Mark Latham found himself a cushy number after he lost the leadership of the federal Labor Party. He nominated himself for a seat in the NSW Upper House, the Legislative Assembly, representing Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party : In March 2019, he was elected for an eight year term.
In the NSW Legislative Assembly you don’t actually have to do much apart from appear on Sky after Dark periodically and give the impression of being a man of the people. But Mark’s ambition has been to get more One Nation representatives into the NSW parliament. Not the lower house as they would actually have to be elected, rather the upper house where they aren’t accountable to an electorate. So Mark has come up with a wheeze to get somebody into parliament without actually being elected.
The idea is that with four years remaining in his appointed term, he’s going to resign and create a casual vacancy. Under the Constitution Act 1902 (NSW) the procedure for filling that vacancy does not require a by-election (it’s the upper house you see) but calls for the state Governor to convene a joint sitting of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly to elect a person to fill the vacant seat.
The person nominated for election to fill a vacant seat – and this is where Mark has been doing his homework – must be a member of the same political party as the member he or she replaces at the time that member was elected.
So, Mark resigns and another One Nation luminary takes his place – they call it parachuting – and Mark goes off into semi-retirement somewhere on the NSW North coast ? Not on your Nelly ! Remember, it is Mr Latham’s intention to get more One Nation people into the NSW parliament and this strategy doesn’t achieve that – one out, one in doesn’t work.
This is where it gets tricky as Mark intends to nominate himself again at the state election in March 2023. He’s relying on his name recognition and the ‘donkey vote’ to achieve this. All going to plan, he will be elected for an eight year term next March and will join the person who took his place following his retirement.
This is all legal but is it ethical ? Is it democracy at work ? You be the judge.
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11 comments
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John Hanna
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Pete Petrass
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RomeoCharlie29
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Phil Pryor
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Michael Taylor
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Cool Pete
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GL
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wam
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Terence Mills
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Gav
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Michael Taylor
Return to home pageAlways a twat!!
Now that it is known what he intends to do……………this loophole must bv closed………..NOW!!!
As a mate of mine would say JAFP…. Just another f…..g Politician. Not about doing what’s best for the community. Another PHON would make three and if he gets re-elected, four. Is there some sort of cash bonus for leading a group of four MP’s or is it just that he wants to destroy the country with the xenophobic, backward policies of his political mistress?
So, a lone loony rep of a filthy. racist, stupido party of backward airheads wants to have another companion in depraved representation. Latham, a skinful of excremental irrelevancy, deserves obliteration, not companionship. His broom jockey leader Hanson is one of many conservative disgraces in public life, nitwit negativity…
Just doesn’t seem right, somehow. But maybe I’m biased.
Now if it was someone I like … it’ll all be fine. 😁
Jesus Christ! How can it be considered ethical? I know that if a serving senator federally dies, the party that they were from selects a new senator. I also remember how Joh sent Pat Field to replace the late Bert Milliner! Let’s hope this does not succeed!
On a Scummo note: Worldwide Speakers Group –
Look who is listed…yes,it’s Scummo… if you don’t want to be violently and messily sick then click ye not on his photo and the featured videos or read his “Biography”. If you are feeling particularly masochistic and decide to go further it might be a very good idea to keep a bucket within easy reach). I’m still wiping the mess off my desk.
Or you can have a squiz at (bucket optional) –
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/virtuous-globalization-mastermind-former-australia-prime-minister-scott-morrison-lauded-by-worldwide-speakers-group
Ethics?
ps You are right, Cool, I remember, Joh and his replacement senator field (joh is not a bible bashing bastard) satisfied the conditions. Has domo got the guts??
Cool and Wam
The casual vacancies issue arose out of the 1975 controversy over the appointment of independent Cleaver Bunton (New South Wales) and anti-Whitlam Australian Labor Party member Albert Field (Queensland) to fill Senate seats formerly held by ALP senators. The appointments ran counter to a longstanding convention that when a Senate seat became open due to a casual vacancy, the state parliament would appoint a replacement recommended by the former senator’s party.
It necessitated the 1977 national referendum to prevent this rorting of the senate : The amendment was approved by a 73.3 per cent majority of the electorate.
To overcome the Latham wheeze would probably require a referendum in NSW but how this would be framed is quite difficult recognizing the democratic rights of prospective candidates.
Good find GL. If there’s one piece of truth in the wwsg bi-op, it is he was a “globalization mastermind”. What was it, 5 portfolios under the radar? That earned him some serious street cred in the snake-oil land of the globalist whose MO is to work behind our backs to our detriment.
Another wwsg ‘globalization mastermind’ is Scott Gottlieb, Pfizer Board member, CNBC news/propaganda contributor & former FDA Commissioner, you know, the same FDA that tried to hide Pfizer clinical trial data from public scrutiny for 75 yrs. Probably an oversight, but wwsg has Robert Redfield as a speaker for hire. Imagine that, an honest CDC official turned whistleblower, retired in 2021, in the same club as Morrison.
GL,
Dr Binoy will have a post up shortly about Morrison’s global talkfest.