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A Coalition MP will push ahead with a private member's bill to introduce fixed four-year terms despite the idea receiving a lukewarm reception from senior ministers in the Turnbull government on Monday.
Push for four year terms
Bill Shorten has reignited debate over fixed four year terms of government and Malcolm Turnbull is interested.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday signalled support for Bill Shorten's call to overhaul the federal electoral system and plans to meet with the Labor leader in a bid to forge a bipartisan consensus.
But the suggestion has already been met with scepticism from senior government ministers and constitutional experts who argue the idea is complicated and could remove one of the few checks and balances in Australia's electoral system.
"I don't think Bill Shorten should be given three years, let alone four," Treasurer Scott Morrison told ABC radio on Monday morning.
"It's not a top priority for the government. I mean, Bill [Shorten] raised this. He's the one that seems to be pushing it. The Prime Minister agreed to have a conversation about it and I know that my colleague across the river - David Coleman - has put forward some sensible views around this. It's not a top order issue for the government. It's not one that the government has initiated from that perspective."
Revenue and Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer echoed his sentiments, saying fixed four-year terms could "either entrench good governments or bad governments".
"I'm not sure it's the highest priority for people when they're thinking about the issues that affect them."
But Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said there would "certainly be some advantages" if the terms of federal and state governments were aligned.
Human Services Minister Alan Tudge also supported the proposal, saying on social media it "made a lot of sense".
David Coleman, the Sydney Liberal MP who drafted a private member's bill that would introduce the fixed terms, said he was encouraged by the reception to his bill.
Mr Coleman, who drafted the bill with the help of constitutional expert George Williams, will press ahead with the bill which he would like to see come before Parliament this year.
In 1988, the Australian public rejected Bob Hawke's referendum proposal for non-fixed four-year terms.
Advocates for change suggest fixed terms would give governments more time to concentrate on policy rather than fixating on the timing of the next election.
Under the current system, federal elections must be held within three years of a new parliament's first sitting. However, prime ministers have the power to call an early election at virtually any time, giving them the power to manipulate election timing for their own political gain.
Critics of longer, fixed terms say it would increase the chance of the nation getting stuck with bad governments. A major stumbling block in the past has also been that such a change would likely extend Senate terms from six years to eight.
The left-leaning Australia Institute suggested rather than extending the length of terms, governments should instead serve their full three year terms.
The institute's executive director, Ben Oquist, said the average life of federal governments since 1910 had been two-and-a-half years.
"That's 16-and-a-half years - or 6000 days - lost," Mr Oquist said.