Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

at the time of the Goss government, Member for Moreton, and electoral fraud occurred in that election. It went to the courts and the courts determined that that fraud, among other things, could have changed the result of the election. A new election was ordered in Mundingburra. The Liberal Party’s Frank Tanti won that election. The Goss government lost its majority and the Borbidge government was elected. So, Member for Melbourne Ports, small numbers of fraudulent voters can, in fact, change the result of an election process. You cannot come in here and argue, as you did, that only one in a million voters commits fraud, when you can change the government of a state of Australia because of small numbers of voters committing electoral fraud.

I am reminded that this was not the only evidence of electoral fraud in my electorate. I well remember the investigations that I was involved in, looking at who voted where and why. I found electors enrolled at the local council drain. There was no house there—it was a drain. There were six electors enrolled in the drain. That is really concerning. These anomalies went on for some time because the integrity of the electoral roll was not there.

I am also reminded that former Townsville city councillor—a Labor city councillor—Karen Ehrmann was sent to jail because of electoral fraud. I am further reminded that a Labor state minister had to resign in Queensland—didn’t he? Mike Kaiser was forced by Premier Beattie to resign because of his involvement in apparent electoral fraud. In his case, it was all about branch-stacking, numbers and getting people elected. He was allegedly enrolling himself in an electorate where he did not live. He committed a fraud in signing a paper which he was not entitled to sign. So he lost his job as the member for Woodridge, I think it was, in Queensland. But isn’t it interesting that he came back as the Premier’s chief of staff? Isn’t it interesting that, without any formal process, he was appointed to a $450,000 job on NBN Co.? It is quite extraordinary. Everything I am saying is on the public record, and isn’t it interesting that the people who have been committing this fraud are all Labor Party people? Isn’t it interesting that this bill before the parliament today, put up by the Labor Party, is basically to enhance their electoral prospects and harvest more votes?

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