Dio Wang (WA, Palmer United Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move my amendment on sheet 7876 as revised:

(1) Page 2 (after line 20), after clause 3, insert:

4 Review of the operation of amendments

(1) The Minister must cause an independent review of the operation of the amendments made by Schedule 1 to be undertaken and completed within 6 months after the result of the election first held on or after the commencement of this clause has been declared.

(2) The review must consider:

  (a) the effectiveness of the amendments made by Schedule 1; and

  (b) the effectiveness and accuracy of systems and processes put in place by the Australian Electoral Commission to give effect to the amendments made by Schedule 1; and

  (c) the adequacy of resources given to the Australian Electoral Commission for the election; and

  (d) any other related matters that the Minister specifies.

(3) The person who undertakes the review must give the Minister a written report of the review.

(4) The Minister must cause a copy of the report of the review to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sittings days of receiving it.

My amendment simply asks the AEC to do a very simply and I think also very warranted job after the first election, when the changes we have been discussing overnight come into effect. Because of the changes and because of the election that follows, I think that given the time allowed for the AEC to make such changes, to change the system and to make sure their staffing levels are adequate, it is very possible that we are asking AEC to do a very rushed job. So I think it is very prudent that we ask the AEC to do a review within six months after the results of the election and for the review just to tell us the effectiveness of the amendment, the accuracy of the system and the process that will be put in place, and whether the resourcing that is given to AEC is adequate or not.

That is all this amendment is asking for, and I think it is very prudent that as lawmakers of this country we all make sure we follow through the changes we have made to any laws so that we can understand whether there are any unintended consequences and whether the changes are working as intended.