Malcolm Turnbull signals support after Bill Shorten proposes fixed four-year terms
Bill Shorten’s call for a joint movement to extend parliamentary terms to four years has attracted interest from the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who called the opposition leader to discuss the issue.
Shorten says changing to a fixed four-year term – bringing the commonwealth in line with most of the states and territories – would bring the nation the certainty and longer-term policy making it needs.
“Governments can be more daring and more determined if they’re not constantly thinking about the next election,” Shorten told the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday. “What this country needs is long-term policy making, over the cycle of polls and two-and-a-halfyear [election] cycles.”
At present, elections must be held three years or less from when parliament first sat after the previous poll.
The prime minister of the day has the power to decide when that will be and the average term has been about two-and-a-half years.
While most of the states and territories now have fixed parliamentary terms, changing the federal timetable requires a referendum as the three-year term is set out in the constitution.
One hurdle has been the assumption that moving to four-year terms would be matched with a corresponding change to elect senators for eight years when, at the moment, they are chosen for six, but Shorten said that shouldn’t be a “deal-killer”.
Shorten called on Turnbull to make a bipartisan commitment to support the change, saying if only Labor wanted it the push would fail.
The prime minister phoned Shorten after his television appearance to discuss the idea.
It is understood that Turnbull indicated he had previously been on the record in support of fixed terms and invited the opposition leader to meet to further discuss the idea as well as furthering a referendum for constitutional recognition of Indigenous people.
However, it is also understood that the government views this as another distraction from Labor and wants to focus on constitutional recognition.
Earlier in the year, the Liberal backbencher David Coleman flagged a private member’s bill to bring in fixed four-year terms, also saying it would allow longer-term planning and deliver more certainty for business investors.
The special minister of state, Scott Ryan, who oversees electoral reform, said at the time he did not support the idea and believed it could lead to “lazy” governments.
The West Australian premier, Mark McGowan, encouraged the commonwealth to follow the path of his and other states.
“When I was in opposition a fouryear term felt like an eternity,” he told reporters on Sunday. “Now I’m in government, I’m much more in favour of four-year terms. I think it provides more certainty, it allows governments to get on and govern rather than worry about the next election.”