Greens are merely following the law

So, Green co-leader Russel Norman is going to be an MP before the election. However some are saying that leapfrogging two list places to do so is undemocratic and it should not be allowed to happen because it manipulates the list. Instead of pointing the finger at the Greens,they should be querying the law, because that law allows political parties - or specifically, candidates - to disregard list rankings when entering parliament - with or without a party membership vote. Specifically Section 137 of the Electoral Act 1993.

137 Method of supplying vacancy
(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall determine which of the unelected candidates whose name was included in the same party list as the member whose seat has been declared vacant stood highest in the order of preference.

(4) If that candidate is still alive and remains a member of that political party, the Chief Electoral Officer shall then inquire of that candidate whether that candidate is willing to be a member of Parliament, and if that candidate so indicates his or her willingness, the Chief Electoral Officer shall declare that person to be elected by notifying the person’s election in the Gazette.

(5) If that person has died or is no longer a member of the political party or does not signify his or her willingness to be a member of Parliament, the Chief Electoral Officer shall proceed to make the inquiries described in subsection... (4) of this section in respect of the following candidate in order of preference on the party list, and so on, in descending order of preference, until one of the candidates who remains a member of the party signifies his or her willingness to be a member of Parliament, in which case the Chief Electoral Officer shall declare that person to be elected by notifying the person’s election in the Gazette.

The fact that the party did a postal vote to get Norman in makes the Greens more democratic than the law. The fact that Mike Ward got arm twisted to announce that he will not signify his willingness to become an MP is irrelevant.

And I see that even Garth George likes the Greens provided that there arent to many of them in Parliament. Me, I quite like the Family Party, provided none of them get into Parliament.