Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I have been listening intently to this debate and I have been encouraged to make a contribution by Senator Ryan's warning that anything that the Labor Party does with the electoral system could make it easier for voters to vote more than once or to vote in the name of other people. I think that the coalition's amendment, as moved by Senator Ryan, is a good one and anything that helps overcome those problems with our voting system is worth supporting.

I fear any time the Labor Party gets involved with the electoral system. I well remember, in my own state of Queensland, a state election where the Labor Party completely rorted the system. It happened in Townsville, the city in which I have my office. In fact, I am pleased to say that some of my staff—in their own time, I might add—did a lot of work in working out the rorting of the voting system undertaken by the Australian Labor Party at the time of the Mundingburra election. Those who follow political history will recall that it was a by-election held after the first election was inconclusive because of rorting of the electoral system by the Australian Labor Party.

As a result of the by-election, which was won at the time by the Liberal Party candidate, Mr Frank Tanti, the government of Queensland actually changed. So it was quite important. Had the rorting by the Australian Labor Party not been addressed and not been discovered and opened up, you would have had a government of Queensland that should not have been there because the election was a complete fraud insofar as that electorate was concerned. I have to say that was an electorate where we were able to gather the evidence. I am always concerned. At the time, a state secretary of the Australian Labor Party, Mr Mike Kaiser, subsequently entered Queensland parliament in a safe Labor seat. He was mentioned in inquiries relating to this fraudulent activity by the Australian Labor Party. He was subsequently required to resign his seat in Queensland parliament—not that it did him any harm, I might add.

A couple of years back, Senator Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, suggested to Mr Quigley, the head of the NBN, that if he was looking for a government relations/communications expert perhaps he need not look any further than, who else, Mr Mike Kaiser from the Labor Party, who had been involved in the shady dealings with the electoral system. Mr Quigley gave evidence that once the minister had suggested this person for a job, which I think was worth $350,000 or so—it may have been more than that—he thought that it was not necessary to advertise the position, to go out to tender or to get a job search agency to look at it. Lo and behold, Mr Kaiser was appointed to that very lucrative job. It always amazed me that they need a government relations manager, seeing as the NBN was totally a government organisation—I could never quite understand that. Nevertheless, Mr Kaiser was eventually compensated for the fact that he did not have a long-term career in the parliament of Queensland because of these allegations of electoral fraud.

I support Senator Ryan's amendments, which try to tighten up the electoral system so that the sorts of fraudulent operations that we know the Australian Labor Party has indulged in in the past cannot happen. We often hear—said almost jokingly, such is the Australian way—'vote early and vote often'. There are clearly cases of people voting in other people's names. Now I do not say that every member of the Labor Party involves themselves in this sort of activity at every election, but what I do say is that there is documented evidence where this sort of thing happened once before. In that instance it was rorting, as I recall it, of the ALP's own voting systems that I talk about and, as a result of that, a couple of people including one ALP alderman on the Townsville City Council at the time ended up in jail. I always feel sorry for that particular person; I think she was the fall guy for bigger names who found a scapegoat to wear the burden of what was exposed at that particular time.

I am concerned about these allegations. We know from reading articles, like the one I have quoted a couple of times already by a Grace Collier, writing in the Australian Financial Review on 16 November last year, about some of the exposes she has related about the union movement and how they operate. There have been descriptions of some union officials as being bullyboys. Those of you that experienced the 2007 election—remember, that was the Work Choices election—remember the ETU, amongst others. And I remember in Cairns quite clearly—and Senator McLucas might remember this too—where the ETU paid someone, and I will not say bully, but certainly to put maximum pressure on those who would support anyone but the Labor candidate. There were a few allegations made at that time. As I say, you read this article by Grace Collier and you hear of other incidents.

You look at what is happening with ICAC in Sydney at the moment with my namesake—and I always take the opportunity when I mention that to confirm to everyone that it is not me and he is no relation to me, although our names are spelt the same. Some of the dirty dealings that occurred in some of the elections that my namesake, Ian Macdonald, and Mr Eddie Obeid were involved in at the time would cause you to pause and think carefully. That is why I think it is very important that this amendment moved by Senator Ryan be seriously considered, particularly by the crossbenchers.

I would not expect the Labor Party to get too involved in it or to give it too much credence because, as I say, there are documented cases of the Australian Labor Party rorting the system. But the Greens are always on about probity and honesty in the electoral system, notwithstanding they are the recipients of Australia's largest ever single donation of money from a businessman. There is nothing wrong with that of course, I might say; all parties depend upon donations. But it gets a bit hypocritical when the Greens blame everyone else for accepting money from big business and then they are the recipients of the biggest ever donation by a single businessman in the history of Australian polling. As I say, there is nothing wrong with that, but the Greens do often portray themselves in politics as the honest broker, the honest third party, and I cannot imagine why they would not be supporting Senator Ryan's proposal. Certainly Senator Ryan's proposal does not take things back. It does not make it any more difficult for a legitimate voter to get a vote. But it would help the system, and any activity, any action, proposal or initiative that confirms the honesty and integrity of our voting system is something that needs support.

The CHAIRMAN: The question is that items 8 to 23, 27, 29 to 31, 35 to 48 and 51 in schedule 1 stand as printed.