Germany example of what PR could do

It has been stated that moving to one of the three forms of proportional representation on the referendum ballot would facilitate moderation and co-operation, and discourage extreme positions and confrontation.

This is not what is happening in Germany, my country of birth and one of the jurisdictions often cited as an example of a successful democracy using PR.

Instead of moderation and cooperation, there is extreme polarization and the phenomenal rise of a far-right anti-immigration party, the AfD.

Formed in April 2013, the AfD got a foothold in several state legislatures as a result of the five per cent threshold required to obtain seats under PR. The party quickly rose to prominence following Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bold decision in 2015 to open Germany’s borders to hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Instead of turning to the governing coalition to improve its management of accommodating so many people (as I believe would have happened under a first-past-the-post system), a significant portion of the electorate supported the AfD, which has has successfully entered all 16 state legislatures.

After the 2017 federal election, it has become the single largest opposition party to Merkel’s coalition government.

It’s not fear-mongering to suggest a PR system with a five per cent electoral threshold can lead to the rise of parties with positions that would be kept on the fringes under FPTP. It’s simply pointing out a reality of what can and does happen.

I am voting to keep the relative stability of our current system.

Andreas Dolberg Victoria