Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My electorate office is located alongside the Australian Electoral Commission office for the division of Makin, and has been for as long as I can recall. I say from the outset that my office certainly over the years that I have been the member for Makin, has had considerable interaction with that office. In saying that I place on record my gratitude to the staff of that office, who have, I believe, done an exceptional job in looking after the needs, inquiries and interests of the people in the general area. My experience with that office, in fact, goes back to before I was the member for Makin, when I was the mayor of the City of Salisbury. Even in that period in public life, the office oversaw some of the local government elections and, again, I had some interaction with the office. I can say that the service from the staff over all of that time was exemplary.

Almost on a daily basis we go into that office for one reason or another. The office is also particularly well used by elderly people who might be leaving the area for several months at a time and make inquiries about the processes they need to put in place in respect of their absence should an election be called. Those are legitimate queries which we all confront on a regular basis. Most importantly, the office is used during election periods when I can say without a doubt it is inundated with inquiries from people seeking information about how they should enrol in order to vote or how they should vote if they happen to be out of the electorate at the time of the election. I know they are inundated because many of the inquiries initially come through my office and we redirect them next door.

I understand the office will be closing in the near future. Can you advise what arrangements are being put in place to assist people who have relied on the services of the office, being located in the north-eastern suburbs for so long, and in particular what arrangements are being put in place to help people during those critical times when an election is being held?

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