ONE of the many minor party senate candidates hoping to enter parliament at the federal election has backed the voting changes which may restrict their entry.
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The changes, made earlier this year, will allow voters to allocate their own preferences above the line on the Senate ballot paper.
And if they choose to vote below the line they won't have to number every box. Group voting tickets will also be abolished, a move many believe will result in the departure of numerous micro-party senators.
Despite being from one of those relatively new micro parties, Nick Xenophon Team senate candidate Naomi Halpern said she believes the changes would make things more transparent.
However, she also believes it is important to have different voices in the Senate.
“I think it is important, I think it is really important that particularly in the senate that you have a proportion of people that are not aligned with the big parties to hold people to account,” she said.
“And to make sure you have a broad representation of the voices in Australia. The current government were very unhappy that there were so many voices competing in the senate but I think that is what democracy is about.
“I think (the changes) are great for democracy, I think it gives the power back to the voters to decide where their preferences go rather than backroom deals, there is nothing democratic about that.
“It makes things more transparent and the more transparent things are, the better things are for the nation.”
Ms Halpern described the newly formed NXT as aiming to be fearless watchdogs in politics. They currently have no plans to field candidates for the House of Representatives locally, however, Ms Halpern said that may change into the future.
“How we see it, is that after this election over the next few years we will grow and hopefully we will be fielding candidates across Victoria in the lower house at the next election,” she said.
She recently spoke with a number of Ballarat residents about what they felt the major local issues were.
“There were people who were happy to talk to me, but there were also people who were disengaged,” she said.
“Issues around youth unemployed, ice in regional areas is a huge issue, concerns about refugee policy, (were raised with me).”
