Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Electoral and Referendum Legislation Amendment Bill 2006. While Labor supports this particular bill, it would be remiss of me if I failed to point out the government’s protracted history of trying to disenfranchise many Australians when it comes to the electoral roll and related matters. This statement is not made lightly. I refer to the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Act 2006 as evidence supporting it—a bill that Labor did not support; another bill that this government used its Senate majority to get through this parliament last year; a bill that introduced some regressive measures which will have a detrimental impact on the Australian electoral system.

However, the bill before us today contains some of the reasonable measures that stem from the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters on its inquiry into the conduct of the 2004 federal election and related matters. The legislation amends the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and the Referendum Act 1984 and follows some reform measures introduced by the government in the controversial electoral and referendum amendment act to which I have already referred.

The bill we have before us contains provisions that will provide for a trial of electronically assisted voting for sight-impaired people; provide for a trial of remote electronic voting for Australian Defence Force members and Defence civilians serving outside Australia; specifically enable members of the Australian Defence Force and Australian Federal Police personnel serving outside Australia and persons registered as eligible overseas electors to apply for registration as general postal voters; and provide that the deadline for postal vote applications is 6 pm on the Thursday prior to polling day. The Australian Electoral Commission will not be required to post or deliver postal voting material to those electors whose postal vote applications are received after that. The Australian Electoral Commission will be required to make reasonable efforts to contact applicants whose postal vote applications are received after the deadline to advise them of the need to vote by other means.

The bill will also amend arrangements for the delivery of postal voting materials by the AEC, expand the range of AEC officers who can receive completed postal vote envelopes and amend the requirements for the establishment of pre-poll voting centres to enable them to be quickly established by the Australian Electoral Commission in exceptional circumstances. It will amend provisions relating to enrolment from outside Australia to allow applicants the option of providing an Australian passport number, rather than a current drivers licence number, to satisfy the requirements of the proof of identity scheme established by the electoral integrity act. And it will repeal section 350 of the Electoral Act, which relates to defamation of electoral candidates.

While I will not speak today on all of the provisions, I will take the opportunity to speak about the importance of several provisions which form this legislation. In accordance with the recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, the Commonwealth Electoral Act will be amended to specifically permit Australian Defence Force and Australian Federal Police personnel who are serving overseas to become general postal voters. Serving members deployed outside Australia will automatically be sent ballot papers for an election, without having to submit a postal vote application.

In addition, for the sight impaired, the legislation will provide provisions to trial electronic voting. A similar trial was conducted during the Victorian state election and, by all reports—certainly from the Victorian Electoral Commission—it was an overwhelming success. I point out that its success in the 2006 Victorian election was noted as being due to the accuracy of the system; however, I understand that they were disappointed with the number of people who engaged in the trial. This was attributed to a large proportion of sight-impaired people being elderly, and many being apprehensive about embracing the new technology. I understand from the Victorian Electoral Commission that a report due to be tabled in the Victorian parliament in May of this year will give us a formal assessment of how the trial went. It will be interesting to draw comparisons between the data from the Victorian election and the data from the federal election to be held later this year.

It is, however, unfortunate that the positive steps outlined in this bill are significantly overshadowed by the previous bill that made changes to the Electoral Act—legislation that without question has disenfranchised thousands of potential voters, thousands of Australian citizens. The Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2006 was an attack on the democratic process, and the government should stand condemned for it.

The Howard government has a lengthy history of trying to disenfranchise a broad cross-section of the population when it comes to voting. People with limited levels of education, people from a non-English-speaking background, young people and Indigenous Australians have all been the target of this government. That highly contentious piece of legislation will make it harder for people to enrol by making identity checks more complex. It will also make provisional voting far more difficult. This in particular is a controversial move—controversial because at the last federal election approximately 180,000 Australians cast provisional votes. Under the changes, the government is going to force those casting a provisional vote to provide additional proof of identity. They have always had to prove their identity but now they need additional proof. If they cannot do so, their vote will not count—tens of thousands of potential votes that will not count.

In addition, the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2006 narrowed the time gap for new enrollees wanting to get on the electoral roll. Again, the number of people that this may affect is significant. Eighty thousand people might not have been able to enrol in the last election if these laws had been in place at that time. Those on the roll will be given only three days to correct their details after the writs are issued for the forthcoming election. Indications are that up to 280,000 people could be affected by having a substantial fault in their enrolment.

In October last year, during Senate supplementary estimates, the Australian Electoral Commission admitted that they were very concerned about the fact that the electoral roll had dropped for the first time in a decade. The electoral roll figure at 30 June 2006 was down by 32,000 from the previous year. This was in direct contrast to the previous seven years, where the roll had increased by between 76,000 and 100,000 each year.

These figures are not due to the legislation we saw introduced in June last year. However, they are significant in this debate. If the roll is already in decline and the government has made it even more difficult to get on the roll, it is difficult to see how the numbers will start to go up to levels that accurately reflect eligibility.

Labor is all for ensuring that the electoral roll is accurate and that it is not abused. It has led the way when it comes to reform in this particular area, to make the electoral process fair and accessible. In the 1980s, Labor was responsible for the establishment of the Joint Select Committee on Electoral Reform, now known as the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters—the very committee that recommended the changes that we are now discussing in the bill before us. As my colleague Senator Ray pointed out during the debate last year, it was Labor who brought in disclosure of donations. It was opposed by those opposite because they did not—and they still do not—want the voting public to know who donates to their campaigns. There are many more examples of Labor enhancing the democratic process with electoral reform which I will not go into today. Suffice it to say that Labor stands as the principal party of positive electoral reform.

Voting is a rite of passage for those in a democratic society. The system and the process that oversees this should be nurtured and be given every opportunity to thrive. Labor welcomes the vast majority of the measures in this bill, the Electoral and Referendum Legislation Amendment Bill 2006. They are positive reforms that arise from the report by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.

It is unfortunate that these relatively small changes are standing in the huge shadow cast last year by the changes brought in by the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Act 2006—changes that will make it harder to cast a vote, harder to enrol to vote and harder to ensure that a vote is actually counted. The Electoral and Referendum Legislation Bill 2006 before us today makes some steps forward but, sadly, they follow a monumental leap backwards.