Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank all members who have contributed to the debate on this bill, the Electoral and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017. As elected representatives, we must all agree that the Australian voter is entitled to be able to identify with confidence who it is that is providing electoral information to them. Knowing the source of that information allows voters to fully assess that information and consider it in the right context. It helps voters make a properly informed decision. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case.

By amending the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and related legislation, the bill seeks: to ensure electoral communication is clearly authorised, irrespective of how it is communicated; to provide for political debate to not only be open but also transparent; and to harmonise authorisation requirements across different communication channels, cutting red tape for those who seek to contribute to public debate, while at the same time striking an appropriate balance to protect free and open debate and discussion.

These reforms reflect concerns in the community and in the submissions to and considerations of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. Recognising there is often a need to be expedient in addressing issues of political miscommunication, particularly during an election, the Australian Electoral Commission will have new enforcement options available to it, including enforceable undertakings and more substantial fines. Applying a civil penalty regime will make enforcement more effective and make political players more accountable.

The government intends to move an amendment to this bill in the consideration in detail stage. The effect of this amendment is to remove schedule 2 of the bill, which concerns the criminalisation of impersonating a Commonwealth entity under the Criminal Code. The government remains committed to legislating to criminalise the impersonation of a Commonwealth entity. Separate legislation will deal with this issue in the future. The changes to the Commonwealth Electoral Act proposed in this bill will not take effect until six months after royal assent, and therefore will not affect the Australian marriage law postal survey.

Once again, I thank all members for their contributions and I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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