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The Fair Elections Coalition (FEC) was an Australian political party that contested the first election for the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in 1989.

History

The FEC was formed on 11 August 1988 as a lobby group in opposition to the modified D'Hondt electoral system that was introduced for the first ACT election under self-government. Under this system, any party that did not win at least 5.56% of the vote was unable to win a seat or receive preferences from other parties. The FEC also opposed single-member electoral districts, which were proposed (although failed to pass) at a 1992 referendum.

Although its members, including president Miko Kirschbaum, did not initially want to be a political party, the FEC applied for registration with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 5 January 1989 and was registered 11 days later.

In February 1989, Tony Fleming (who had planned to contest the election as part of his own "Tony Fleming Independent Group" party), former Australian Democrats candidate Julie McCarron-Benson and three members of the Rainbow Alliance joined the FEC to contest the election, in order to best maximise their chances under the D'Hondt system. This meant the Rainbow Alliance withdrew from the election as a separate party.

The FEC received second preferences from a majority of the minor parties that were contesting the election. Opinion polling published throughout the election campaign showed the party with between 1.1% and 2.8% of the vote, which was not enough to win a seat. Fleming's campaign was endorsed by Tasmanian Independent Greens MP Bob Brown, who said Fleming was "part of the fresh wave of Australian politics" and "a brilliant candidate".

The election was held on 4 March, but counting took almost two months to complete. Around three weeks after the election, Fleming conceded that he had narrowly missed out on being elected, with the FEC winning 99% of the quota needed and thus falling just 117 votes (or 0.08%) short of gaining a seat. This was despite Fleming having the third-highest personal vote of any candidate in the ACT.

On 26 July 1991, the FEC was deregistered by the AEC.

References

1. "A.C.T. ELECTION '89: THE CANDIDATES..." The Canberra Times. 24 February 1989. p. 4. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
2. Mason, Leanne (17 February 1990). "Federal poll may dash chance of referendum". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
3. ^ "Register of Political Parties". The Canberra Times. 6 January 1989. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
4. Salins, Christine (3 November 1988). "Independent plan aims at 'fair poll'". The Canberra Times. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
5. "Electoral changes 'grossly unfair'". The Canberra Times. 12 August 1988. p. 2. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
6. ^ Cumming, Fia (10 February 1989). "'Coalition of convenience' is created". The Canberra Times. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
7. "Modified d'Hondt Electoral System". Elections ACT. Archived from the original on 17 October 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
8. Mackerras, Malcolm (11 November 1988). "ACT to have the fairest voting system of all". The Canberra Times. p. 9. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
9. Warden, Ian (17 April 1989). "Single-member polls 'unfair'". The Canberra Times. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
10. Lamberton, Hugh (14 February 1992). "Turnaround: Hare-Clark set to triumph". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
11. "NOTICE OF REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. 17 January 1989. p. 1. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
12. "REGISTER OF POLITICAL PARTIES". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. 16 January 1989. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
13. "Greens join Demoncrats for ACT poll". The Canberra Times. 14 July 1991. p. 2. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
14. "REGISTER OF POLITICAL PARTIES". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. 6 January 1989. p. 2. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
15. "FAIR ELECTIONS COALITION (rainbow alliance)". Woroni. 20 February 1989. p. 29. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
16. Cumming, Fia (16 February 1989). "Preferences to Fair Elections". The Canberra Times. p. 7. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
17. Whitfield, Kathryn (19 February 1989). "Poll: major parties unwanted". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
18. Fraser, Andrew (3 March 1989). "Minority still top tip". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
19. "THIS ELECTION IS ABOUT INTEGRITY". The Canberra Times. 25 February 1989. p. 27. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
20. "Put 1 Fleming Tony Fair Elections Coalition Column 8". The Canberra Times. 26 February 1989. p. 24. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
21. Cumming, Fia (14 March 1989). "Fleming loses ground". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
22. Cumming, Fia (4 May 1989). "Elected! The ACT gets its first Assembly, at last". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
23. Cumming, Fia (24 March 1989). "I think we're dead, Fleming confesses". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
24. Proportional Representation Society of Australia (13 August 2010). "Time to Bring Effective Voting to Queensland Local Government Elections" (PDF). Parliament of Queensland. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
25. Uhlmann, Chris (15 February 1992). "The quagmire of modified d'Hondt". The Canberra Times. p. 16. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
26. "Assembly balance 'in the post'". The Canberra Times. 17 February 1992. p. 1. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
27. Sibley, David (27 July 1991). "How Michael crashed Craig and Carmel's party". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 17 November 2024.

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