Fairness and unfairness in South Australian elections

Abstract

In 1991 the South Australian Government enacted legislation requiring electoral commissioners to draw boundaries that would give both major party groups (Labor and Liberal) a fair and equal chance of winning government. This thesis analyses elections and electoral laws in a historical manner, because it was considered important to show how past events have affected the modern political landscape. The thesis argues that electoral fairness or the lack of it, has been a major issue in South Australia since the early colonial days and that the 1991 legislation has failed to resolve the problem. It is also argued that while multi-member systems can and usually do produce fairer results than single-member systems, such systems are unlikely to be introduced because both major parties have a self-interest in maintaining the single-member system.