Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move Australian Greens amendment (1) on page 4981:

(1)    Schedule 1, page 26 (after line 8), after item 87, insert:

87A  Subsection 329(1)

Repeal the subsection, substitute:

        (1)    A person shall not, during the relevant period in relation to an election under this Act:

             (a)    print, publish or distribute, or cause, permit or authorise to be printed, published or distributed, any matter or thing that is likely to mislead or deceive an elector in relation to the casting of a vote; or

             (b)    deliberately or wilfully mislead or deceive an elector.

This amendment effectively says that a person shall not during an election campaign deliberately or wilfully mislead or deceive an elector. It is a very simple but important amendment. It simply says that we should prohibit people from deliberately or wilfully misleading voters through election campaign material.

It is a very narrow prohibition. It does not say ‘mislead or deceive an elector’; it says ‘deliberately or wilfully mislead or deceive an elector’. Anybody who is associated with the law knows how difficult those things are to press. I would be interested to hear any argument as to why we should permit the deliberate or wilful misleading of electors on their way to the ballot box, and I recommend this amendment to the committee.

Question negatived.

Before we  make a decision there—