lee wrote on Dec 15
th, 2020 at 3:32pm:
greggerypeccary wrote on Dec 15
th, 2020 at 2:01pm:
What about independents?
Seeing as the retiring member is an independent he can nominate his successor. In the case of death perhaps a person agreed upon by members. who reflects the values of the deceased.
Sounds like a problem to me.... I think we'd best stick with by-elections... that way if the people are disgusted with the incumbent, they can vote for someone else... remember that Labor Senator who was replaced by a 'Labor' bloke who was far to the right of Genghis Khan? The LNP had the say over who it was - NOT the party.
"By convention, senators appointed by the state legislature to fill casual vacancies were from the same political party as the former senator. The New South Wales premier, Tom Lewis, a member of the Liberal Party, felt that this convention only applied to vacancies caused by deaths or ill-health, and arranged for the legislature to elect Cleaver Bunton, former mayor of Albury and an independent."" At the time of Cairns' dismissal, one Senate seat was vacant, following the death on 30 June of Queensland ALP Senator Bertie Milliner. The state Labor party nominated Mal Colston, who was the highest unelected candidate on the party's Queensland list in 1974. This resulted in deadlock in Brisbane; the unicameral Queensland legislature twice voted against Colston, and the party refused to submit any alternative candidates.[37] Queensland Country Party Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen had evidence that Colston, a schoolteacher by trade, had set a school on fire during a labour dispute, though the police had refused to prosecute.[38]
After the legislature voted Colston down a second time, Bjelke-Petersen instructed his majority in the legislature to elect a low-level union official, Albert Field, who had contacted his office and expressed a willingness to serve. In interviews, Field made it clear he would not support Whitlam. Field was expelled from the ALP for standing against Colston, and Labor senators boycotted his swearing-in.[37] Whitlam argued that because of the vacancies being filled as they were, the Senate was "corrupted" and "tainted", with the Opposition enjoying a majority they did not win at the ballot box"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional_crisis#Controversy_... This problem was fixed in a 1977 Referendum.