Andrew Murray (WA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

(2)    Schedule 1, item 15, page 7 (lines 16 to 22), omit subsection 93(8AA), substitute:

      (8AA)   A person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment for an offence against the law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory is entitled to vote at any State election or House of Representatives election, unless:

                     (a)   the person is of unsound mind; or

                     (b)   the person has been convicted of treason; or

                     (c)   the person has had his or her right to vote removed by the decision of a judge as part of a sentence.

I do not intend to speak at length on this, because the substantial debate has been had. However, this is a materially different amendment that we are putting before the chamber, and it deserves to have a vote. For those who are waiting in eager anticipation, I will not be calling a division on this one, so you will not have to worry about that.

This amendment reflects our strong opinion that the vote should only be taken away from adult citizen Australians if they are of unsound mind, if they have been convicted of a crime against the state—namely, a crime against citizenship, such as treason—or if the judge concerned has taken the view that the particular crime that they are adjudicating on is such as to warrant a removal of the right to vote in addition to the loss of liberty. If you are determined that some crimes should in fact attract the additional judicial penalty of loss of vote, it is our view that that should be left up to a judge. It should not be for this chamber to disenfranchise prisoners en masse.

I note that Labor have already said that their view is that they want to leave the law as is. I hope that that does not mean that they are closed to the principles I enunciate. This amendment is predicated on the fact that removing the right to vote from a prisoner should be a legitimate and proportionate punishment attached to the particular offence the prisoner is in jail for.

The Democrats move this amendment in the name of upholding basic human, democratic and civil rights. We move it on constitutional grounds, because we believe it accords with Australia’s Constitution that prisoners should have the right to have a vote and because we believe it is part of Australia’s obligations under the international covenant on social and political liberties. We move it to uphold our proud history of leading the world in enfranchisement. Minister, I understand your arguments counter to that, such as the fact that the question of reasonableness and so on resides in the various statutes, so I understand that it is an arguable concept. Nevertheless, it is one we hold.