There is a peculiar Australian conceit that compulsory voting is part of the natural order, as fixed as the Constitution itself. That it never will be tells you who benefits from it, and it isn’t the voter. Consider the incentive structure compulsory voting creates. Fear beats argument, a slogan beats a policy, and because the low-information voter is the decisive one, the whole contest bends toward them. A voluntary system would force parties to campaign on substance to people who chose to engage.