Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia's system of voting in elections is among the best in the world. Free, fair and transparent elections are the foundation of our democracy. Without public confidence in our elections, we cannot be confident in our parliament. We've seen recently in the US what can happen when a certain element of the public loses confidence in its electoral process. We cannot allow that situation to occur here in Australia, and that's why we need to get this right from the outset. Australia has adapted and amended its electoral system over the years to better meet the expectations of voters and candidates alike. We've not been afraid to modernise and change the voting system when the need arises. An example of this was in 2016 when we introduced fundamental reforms to voting for the Senate. This included the removal of group tickets, which had been found to lead to gaming of the system, and handing greater control of preferences to voters. Voters were required to allocate six or more preferences above the line or 12 or more preferences below the line. Overall, these reforms were positively regarded by electoral experts, but the job is not yet done. More needs to be done to address the Senate election process to make it as fair as possible while incorporating modern technology to meet this end.

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters was commissioned to examine the 2016 election, and it has already identified three matters which it considers are in need of urgent attention. These are the authorisation of voter communications, the extent and use of foreign donations and the modernisation of the Australian Electoral Commission. Further to this, the commission looked at other matters relating to the 2016 election, including Senate electoral reform, and made 31 recommendations for consideration. In particular, it identified potential improvements to the counting methodology for the Senate, which were based on expert advice. The Electoral Legislation Amendment (Assurance of Senate Counting) Bill 2021, which is before us today, will provide additional confidence in the election processes for voters and strengthen the legitimacy of election results, which are essential to the integrity of Australia's democracy.

This bill responds to the recommendations from the joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Report on the conduct of the 2016 federal election and matters related thereto and amends the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to ensure the security, accuracy and transparency of the computerised scrutiny of Senate votes. Our Senate counting system is one of a kind. We as Australians can be proud of the innovative design of our electoral system, which allows our senators to be chosen by the fairest counting system in the world. Our unique system utilises a scrutiny of votes using computers to ensure every preference of every vote is counted. The system is robust, and voters have the right to know that it is secure.

In recent years there has been an increase in electronically assisted devices and processes designed to make elections easier for voters, faster to count and more accurate. However, the use of technology by the Australian Electoral Commission has not kept up with public expectations, nor has it totally eliminated integrity and security related problems. That's why this bill we are debating today will require the Electoral Commission to arrange for a security risk assessment of the systems used for the computerised scrutiny of votes in a Senate election. The assessment must be conducted by an independent provider who is accredited by the Australian Signals Directorate before each Senate election.

The bill will also require the Electoral Commission to ensure the accuracy of the computerised scrutiny of Senate votes. This will be achieved by arranging a statistically significant sample of coloured papers to be checked during the course of the scrutiny at every counting centre. This will compare the electronic data captured by the computerised count with physical ballot papers and will be open to inspection by scrutineers. Scrutineers play one of the most important roles in ensuring the transparency and integrity of Australia's electoral system. Under this bill, scrutineers will have the right to request a physical ballot paper be recalled during the computerised scrutiny of Senate votes in cases where a voter's preferences cannot be determined using the scanned computer image of the ballot paper. This will allow the challenge to be resolved on the original physical ballot paper.

The bill also makes technical amendments to how ties between continuing candidates in a Senate election are resolved. This is to address any unintended results that may occur in the rare case of a tie between three or more candidates. It also ensures where two or more candidates are in an unbreakable tie during the count that the exclusions are determined by lot, as occurs in the House of Representatives. The bulk exclusions, which is a process for simplifying the manual counting of Senate ballot papers, will be removed for computerised counts to ensure more transparent results.

The bill also legislates a requirement for detailed data on votes and preferences in a Senate election to be published within seven days after the return of the writs. The AEC already completes this important integrity measure on a voluntary basis. This bill simply legislates this initiative on an ongoing basis.

Finally, this bill will require the Electoral Commission to call for an independent accuracy assessment of the counting software used in the computerised scrutiny of Senate votes. This will ensure that it is accurate and in accordance with the processes set out in the Electoral Act. The AEC will publish the assurance of the accuracy of the software to the appropriate standard in advance of each election.

As I have said, Australia cannot afford for any section of its voter base to lose confidence in the election process. The amendments we are putting forward today provide for the utmost fairness and transparency in Senate elections, using technology in a responsible manner, and I am happy to rise in support of them.

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