Edward SpinkYears 10 - 12

First Place

Edward Spink – Yr10 – Trinity Grammar School Parliament Prize 2018

Why was the 1856 Electoral Act so significant for Victoria

What was the 1856 Electoral Act

Victoria’s 1856 Electoral Act was a highly significant piece of legislation allowing the first election of members to the new Parliament in November that year. The Act established electorates for Victoria, as well as an electoral roll, and made voting compulsory for adult males over the age of 21. However, most notably, the Act introduced a landmark secret ballot, a world-first enabling citizens to vote privately, minimising their vulnerability to intimidation and coercion. Its goal was to ensure political legitimacy – where the views of citizens are cast without interference, to avoid situations where landlords or business owners would coerce citizens into voting differently. Given Royal Assent by the Governor of Victoria on 19 March 1856, this revolutionary piece of legislation demonstrated Victoria’s pioneering democracy, and ensured our Parliament represented Victoria’s people in a peaceful procedure that eliminated the fear of violence or intimidation.

Governor Sir Charles Hotham caused much dismay to Victoria during the Eureka Stockade and the government wanted to disassociate with him through electoral reform. Colonial Secretary William Haines and Attorney-General William Stawell presented an Elections Bill to the Legislative Council in December 1855 for voting in the old open forum way. Previously Mayor of Melbourne from 1850-51, Sir William Nicholson was known as the ‘father of the ballot’ and carried a conflicting motion in December 1855 stating that ‘any electoral act should be based upon the principle of voting by ballot’. Nicholson’s motion was initially carried by fellow member Henry Chapman but Nicholson was granted with the credit for the idea. Chapman was a ‘philosophical radical’ and proposed reform to Parliament including a secret ballot, no property qualifications from members, and equal distribution of electorates. Haines and Stawell were deeply conservative opponents to the secret ballot claiming that it was ‘un-English’ and despite divided views in the Legislative Council, the bill passed the house by a one vote majority on 13 March 1856. On 14 March, the Haines government decided to resign to express their opposition to the ballot.

What was the Act’s importance of the Act for Victoria and our democracy?

Victoria was among the world’s earliest democracies and became the first jurisdiction in the world to adopt the secret ballot. Previously, elections were held in an open forum and people faced the threat of intimidation for their political views. The system was bias and lacked secrecy, with elections often violent and scrutineers easily able to manipulate votes, resulting in unfair outcomes. Elections were often held in hotels, and unsurprisingly many of Melbourne’s City Councillors during the 1850s were ex-publicans. In 1843, the first Legislative Council election was thwarted by alcohol and violence, with Irish journalist William Kelly describing the event as ‘nothing more or less than a pantomime in a frenzy’.

The political upheaval from the 1854 Eureka Stockade promoted the Chartist movement in Australia and ultimately allowed Victoria to become an eclectic colony that was not solely shaped by the top end of town. It gave rise to common people being given the right to vote in the 1857 Manhood Suffrage Act, allowing others than the gentry to have their say in our democracy. In all, the Act was a significant milestone that demonstrated our egalitarianism and gave common people the opportunity to shape the young colony – indicative of our early pioneering democracy.

What role did the Act have in the changing face of Victoria during the 1850s?

Despite widespread opposition, the Electoral Act was a significant milestone for Victoria promoting democracy, free speech and egalitarianism. It gave rise to the common person being given enthusiasm to believe in shaping the young colony as an egalitarian model not solely for the land and gentry. People of all social classes were able to have their input to elect people that best represented their views. Drawing on the upheaval of Eureka, the Act’s implementation enshrined the idea of people power in the colony – the true spirit of democracy.

The 1856 Electoral Act was an innovative push for political reform, with further changes occurring in 1857 lifting restrictions on property qualifications and giving common people the vote. More deeply, the Electoral Act paved for a new way of voting; where common people could shape the

colony and those who govern them. It was a change for society, a scheme of peace, democracy, and egalitarianism, and an important event in Victoria’s shaping. Giving others than the wealthy a vote

was a crucial step towards women’s suffrage, granted in Victoria in 1908, towards a more equal, fair and egalitarian society. Initiated in Victoria, the secret ballot, and the 1856 Electoral Act was highly significant and gave the colony and wider world, an egalitarian, fair, and honest model for our democracy shaped by those who matter most: common people.

Figure 1 - The 1856 Electoral Act

Figure 2 - Henry Chapman - who initiated an effective implementation of the secret ballot

Figure 3 - The Eureka Stockade meeting atop Bakery Hill, led by the Ballarat Reform League