Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, I present the committee's report entitled Report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to Indonesia and Tonga: 24September—1 October 2011. During September 2011 members of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters visited Indonesia and Tonga as part of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Committee Exchange program. Indonesia, with its population of over 200 million, and Tonga, with a little over 100,000 people, are demographically very different countries in the Asia-Pacific region. One thing they have in common is that both are making the important transition to democratic governance, with Indonesia starting its democratic journey in 1999 and Tonga holding its first democratic election in 2010.

The delegation greatly appreciated the time and effort of the many individuals and organisations in Indonesia and Tonga that met with us during our visit. The program included a combination of high-level meetings and opportunities for delegates to hear firsthand the experiences of individuals of their country's democratic progress and their aspirations for a democratic future. This greatly assisted delegates to better appreciate the democratic transition underway in these still relatively new democracies.

Through its governance and electoral support programs, Australia is playing a role in assisting these countries to make practical democratic improvements. This visit provided a valuable opportunity for delegates to gain an appreciation of the strong relationships that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAID and the Australian Electoral Commission are building with electoral authorities and key stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific. The effective conduct of elections is an important component of good governance and viable democracies, and was of particular interest to the delegation. It is important for Australia to remain engaged in Indonesia and Tonga and the broader Asia-Pacific region, and to provide the governance and electoral support needed to help our neighbours realise their democratic aspirations. On behalf of the delegation I thank the organisations and individuals who met with and assisted us during our visit to Indonesia and Tonga. I also thank my fellow delegates for their participation and commitment to the demanding program and their contribution to a productive and informative delegation visit. I also certainly want to put on the record my thanks to the secretary of the delegation, Ms Samantha Mannette, for the excellent work that she did, and to the other staff who assist her in the secretariat of the electoral matters committee.

I commend the delegation report to the House.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Seniors) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join the delegation and rise to speak in support of the remarks by the leader of the delegation.

I attended the Indonesian part only, and I believe it was an important part of the ongoing relationship between Australia and Indonesia. The delegation had the opportunity for high-level meetings, including with the vice-president, and opportunities to meet with Indonesian people to learn of their experience of their country's move to democracy.

It is interesting in a country which of course does not have compulsory voting, that 62 per cent turned out for this mayoral election which we visited. Of the 322,000-odd eligible voters some 200,000 of them turned out to vote. This was a rise in participation compared to the 2006 poll, where only 53 per cent of registered voters cast a vote. Generally in Indonesia voter turnout has been exceptionally high in recent years, but is now appearing to drop. It was suggested to the delegation that this could be an indication of voter fatigue due to the high number of elections in the country. For example, in 2010 there were more than 240 local elections conducted.

There was an expectation that it would be an outright win for the pair who eventually won. That was the pair supported by Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, but they only achieved 48.3 per cent of the vote on polling day. Rather than have a run-off there was a subdistrict approach applied. This means that the total votes of the subdistrict are examined and the candidate to win the most subdistrict elections are declared the winners—that is, for mayor and deputy mayor. So the final winners of the election, declared some 10 days after the election was held, were in fact the pair supported by Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

It was interesting to watch the people line up to cast their votes. They were obviously very keen to be part of the process. It is interesting that the mark that you have voted is that your little pinky finger is dipped in ink, and that is to ensure that you are not voting a second time. It might be something that we could look at here; we do have a few people who vote more than once.

The AEC noted that their permanent presence in Jakarta has been a very positive presence. We now have an Australian Electoral Commission director and local staff, and they work together with AusAID representatives. They accompanied us around the polling stations during the voting, and at the close of the polling booths and the beginning of the count. It was interesting to see them hold up the ballot boxes. There was obviously pride taken in making sure that there was not double voting and that there was no tampering with those ballot boxes.

The AEC, in partnership with AusAID, have been working hard to build strong relationships with electoral authorities in Indonesia. Observing the Yogyakarta mayoral election was a valuable opportunity to see Australia's continuing electoral support being given to Indonesia, which was begun by the Howard government, and why it is so important. Australia provides direct support, and through international partnerships, to develop the capacity of Indonesia's electoral authorities.

I, too, would like to thank Samantha Mannette, who acted as the secretary to the committee during the visit. Her attention to detail and organising of the trip was exemplary. I think it was a useful part in continuing the important relationship between Australia and Indonesia.