Glenn Druery

Glenn Druery is an Australian ultra-distance cyclist and an electoral campaigner and political strategist. He has played a leading role in the electoral success of various micro and minor parties in Australia since the mid-1990s.

He acquired a reputation through his Minor Party Alliance as the "preference whisperer" of Australian politics.

After overcoming a serious illness in his 30s, Druery competed in the Race Across America (RAAM) four times, in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2012. In 2009 his four-man team, Team RANS, won the 5,000 km event in 6 days 3 hours and 40 minutes. During his 2012 RAAM Druery won his race category, generated media attention for victims of the HIV virus, especially in the third world and raised money for HIV research.

In 2003 and 2007 he participated in the 1,200 km Paris–Brest–Paris (PBP) cycling event.

In 1996 Druery was instrumental in the formation of the Outdoor Recreation Party, and initiated a strategy to try to ensure the election of a party member to the New South Wales Legislative Council. This involved the manipulation of the single transferable vote system used to elect the Council from the single, statewide, multi-member electorate. By encouraging, or even organising, many minor groups to contest the election, and ensuring an organised and disciplined allocation of preferences among them, candidates who only received a very small percentage of people's first-preference votes could be elected. This practice has become known as 'preference harvesting'.

Druery's scheme was first employed at the 1999 New South Wales Legislative Council election. 264 candidates from 81 different parties contested the election, which resulted in what became known as the "tablecloth ballot paper".

The NSW Legislative Council elects 21 members every four years, with a quota of 4.5 per cent of the vote. In 1999 the ballot paper had to accommodate 264 candidates and 81 parties. Druery played a key role in the election using his 'preference harvesting' strategy and supporting Malcolm Jones of the Outdoor Recreation Party. In the end Jones received preferences from 19 party tickets and won a seat, despite having attracted only 0.2 per cent of the primary vote.

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