Victoria's "archaic" upper house voting system must be reformed, MPs and experts say, after secret deals to elect micro parties were exposed by a leaked video.
Victoria is the only state to still allow group voting tickets (GVT) — a system where parties allocate preference for voters who number the upper house ballot paper above the line.
It has led to complex and secretive deals between micro parties to harvest preferences in order to get elected with minuscule primary votes.
Sarah Maddison, director of the Australian Centre at the University of Melbourne, said it was a "pretty archaic system".
"By just using the group voting ticket system and voting above the line, they [electors] lose the ability to control where their votes are directed," she said.
At the last election, Rod Barton from the Transport Matters Party was elected to the Eastern Metropolitan Region with just 0.6 per cent of the primary vote. The Liberal Democrats received a similar victory.
"That's just ridiculous, and it can't happen under a system where voters control their own preferences,'' ABC election analyst Antony Green said.
Glenn Druery, dubbed the "preference whisperer", has made a business out of doing preference deals for minor parties in exchange for payments.
It is not illegal.
The Angry Victorians Party has released video of negotiations between the party and Mr Druery in which he boasts of his influence.
"I caused four Greens to lose their seats last time. Four of the suckers. So, suffice to say, their supporters don't send me Christmas cards," Mr Druery said in an excerpt of a recording released by the party.
Mr Druery explains in one video that he charged $55,000 to minor parties for optimising their preferences in order to win seats in Victoria's upper house.
He said he helped set up the Sack Dan Andrews party to draw preference votes away from other parties.
"I could have called it the Pro Jet Trails Party, I could have called it the Port Arthur Conspiracy, I could have called it the Whacko Crazy Lunatics Party but I didn't," he said.
"If that gets a decent draw it's going to completely usurp Clive [Palmer's United Australia Party], One Nation and poor little Aidan [McLindon's Freedom Party]."
In a statement, Restore Democracy Sack Dan Andrews Party candidate Tosh-Jake Finnegan said Mr Druery had "f**k all involvement" in setting up the party.
Mr Druery also said that the Labor government has been unwilling to reform the voting system because it currently keeps their opponents at bay.
"The conversation is: I want you to be able to govern and I will help you find a pathway forward. Of course if you announce straight away that you're going to get rid of the GVT, the crossbench will become a very, very cross bench," he said.
"You want to govern, I can help. You want to keep the GVT, that's great to keep the Greens at bay. That's how the conversations go."
Mr Druery urged the Angry Victorians Party candidates to oppose any attempts to reform the group voting ticket system.
"If you guys get elected, I'm not going to tell you how to vote except for one thing and that is electoral reform," he said.
"Let me say up front, if you get elected and there is anything to do with electoral reform you pick up the phone to me."
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews denied suggestions his party had benefited from Mr Druery's preference arrangements.
"I don't know the bloke, I don't work with the bloke and the electoral commission might well have a close look at him in terms of what he's done," he said.
"I don't think you would describe the individual in question as doing anything to benefit me. Have a look at some of the political parties he's been involved in and worked for. They're no friends of mine."
Minor parties renew push for electoral reform
The University of Melbourne's Professor Maddison said the videos showed it was "more than time that Victoria got in line with other jurisdictions" which had left the group voting ticket system behind.
The Greens have long called for upper house voting reform.
In 2014, then-Liberal premier Denis Napthine approached then-opposition leader Daniel Andrews with a plan to reform the voting system.
But it was rejected because it was too close to the 2014 election.
After Labor's 2014 victory there were senior Labor people calling for voting reform.
Suggestions for reform include setting a minimum threshold of primary votes to be included in preference flows as well as adopting the federal senate voting rules, which allow voters to number multiple boxes above the line in order to give a greater control of preferences.
Reason Party MP Fiona Patten said she arranged her own preference deals in 2014 and 2018, but a supporter of hers paid Mr Druery in 2014 "in a bid to prevent him insidiously undermining my prospects".
She said she had tried to reform the system, unsuccessfully introducing legislation in 2020 to outlaw Mr Druery's business model.
She also lodged a complaint with the Victorian Electoral Commission in 2018.
"It is a corruption of the political process and should be reformed,'' Ms Patten said.
"People should not be able to buy their way into parliament, but effectively that is what has been happening. Group voting tickets exist for a reason, but currently they are being manipulated for profit."
She previously called the system "a corruption of our democratic electoral process".
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said if elected, he would reform the system.
"This is Third World kind of stuff where you can literally buy your way into the Victorian parliament," he said.
Shadow Minister for Government Scrutiny Louise Staley said the Liberal Party would refer the revelations to IBAC. However, as preference deals are entirely legal, it is not clear what specific issue would be referred.
Mr Andrews said a review would be conducted after the election, but he did not commit to pushing for reform.
"We're not ruling out making changes, certainly not, but let's allow that process to run its course," he said.
"I'm not for a moment diminishing the concern people have or the importance of having that review, that's why we have one after every election."
The ABC has attempted to contact Mr Druery for comment.
