Bonus weighting is a method used in some political parties to increase the chances of a particular group – often women or underrepresented groups – to secure positions, typically during candidate selection processes.

Under this model, the Party would require that, in certain winnable seats (for example, seats held by Labor or Independents under a certain margin, or where there an incumbent member has announced their retirement)

The goal would be to address imbalances and ensure more equal representation within the Party.

The New Zealand Labour Party uses a weighted scoring system when assessing potential candidates for the ‘Party list’.

Arguments for

While Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) is a different electoral system to Australia’s that caters for more central control, the New Zealand Labour Party has succeeded in lifting its parliamentary female representation to 50%

Arguments Against

This model moves away from the important principle of one person, one vote.

Bonus weighting for female candidates overrides merit-based selection, contrary to Liberal Party values.

Choosing a candidate who did not get the highest number of votes (but won by bonus weighting) would make explicit that this person was not the first choice of candidate, which could lead to perceptions they were not chosen on merit.