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Supplementary Order Paper No 85

No 85

House of Representatives

Supplementary Order Paper

Tuesday, 14 August 2018

Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill

Proposed amendment

Simeon Brown, in Committee, to move the following amendment:

Clause 5

In clause 5 after new section 55E (page 4, after line 16), insert:

55F Independent members joining parties

If an independent member of Parliament chooses to join a political party currently represented in Parliament, the lowest ranked list member of Parliament in that party is removed from Parliament, and that spot is then filled using the process described in sections 191 to 193.

Explanatory note

This Supplementary Order Paper amends clause 5 of the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill to maintain the proportionality of Parliament by ensuring that, if an independent MP joins an existing party represented in Parliament, that party does not benefit by an additional seat and distort the proportionality of Parliament as elected by voters. The party will lose their lowest ranked list MP, and that spot will be filled using the method in sections 191 to 193 to determine list seats in Parliament at a general election. The MP elected may well be the MP that was ejected from the party list if proportionality so requires.