Australian democracy under threat from ‘powder keg of disenchanted voters’

The federal election is only weeks away. But is Australia’s democracy equipped to manage the growing number of voters dissatisfied with our two-party system?  

Speaking at a panel on democracy facilitated by the Group of Eight and the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), Dr Jill Sheppard from the ANU School of Politics and International Relations said a growing number of Australians “don’t want to be voters”.  

“They would rather stay home on election day than turn out to vote for candidates and parties with whom they don’t feel any great affiliation,” Sheppard said. “And if they do feel any affinity for a minor party or an independent candidate, our electoral system is not set up to accommodate that. 

“We have the majoritarian electoral system that results in, for the most part, two parties – it doesn’t accommodate a great multidimensional range of views for those voters.”  

By most reasonable measures, Australia runs the fairest elections in the world. According to AEC data, a record-breaking 98.2 per cent of eligible Australians are enrolled to vote at the upcoming election 

But Sheppard warned of growing mistrust in political parties and democratic institutions, citing danger of “resentful and disengaged individuals” who may take out their frustration on our democratic voting system.   

“It’s an iceberg type problem – the iceberg is getting bigger underneath, and we don’t understand these voters very well,” she said. 

“There is a potential powder keg of very disenchanted voters that are being compelled to vote, and then on the flipside of that is this incredibly keen number of new migrant voters – people with lower rates of English literacy, who are desperate to vote … I wish the parties in government would pay more heed to those voters.”  

Acting Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope APM described the federal election as “Australia’s largest peacetime logistical event”.  

He pointed to the rise in ‘sovereign citizens’ in Australia as a recent threat to the nation’s electoral integrity.  

“Many of these sovereign citizens, or freedom fighters, are besotted with conspiratorial rhetoric that questions the integrity of electoral processes and results,” Pope said. 

“It seems to be a learned behaviour, exacerbated when spoken by people in authority, that sows seeds of beliefs that are very difficult, if not impossible to reverse even with facts and logic.”  

Pope also noted the declining level of trust in democracy among young voters and falling engagement in federal politics.  

“This declining trust in democracy and our democratic institutions is a real challenge that we must all invest in tackling,” he said.  

In her opening remarks ahead of the panel, ANU Vice-Chancellor and President Genevieve Bell said that it was important to reflect on the role universities could and should play in keeping democracy strong. 

“If our obligation really is to communicate capability and talent and to have the conversations that set Australia up for the future, what better set of conversations to be having than the one we’re having today?” Professor Bell said.