Ricky Muir (Victoria, Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move amendment (2) on sheet 7873:

(2) Schedule 1, page 26 (after line 26), at the end of the Schedule, add:

Part 4—Amendments to offences

96 Paragraph 329(4)(a)

  Omit "$1,000", substitute "100 penalty units"

97 Paragraph 329(4)(a)

  Omit "6 months", substitute "12 months".

98 Paragraph 329(4)(b)

  Omit "$5,000", substitute "300 penalty units".

99 Subsection 340(1)

  Omit "6 metres", substitute "100 metres".

100 Paragraph 340(1A)(b)

  Omit "6 metres", substitute "100 metres".

101 Transitional provision

  Despite the amendment of a provision of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 by this Part, that provision continues to apply, after the commencement of this item, in relation to:

  (a) an offence committed before the commencement of this item; or

  (b) proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed before the commencement of this item; or

(c) any matter connected with, or arising out of, such proceedings;

  as if the amendment had not been made.

This amendment relates to the penalties for those who encourage informal voting. We have had substantive debate about this throughout the night. We established last night that the savings provision will make section 329 redundant because vote 1 above the line is not informal. This has been pretty heavily debated. I am still going to move the amendment, because I think there should be penalties in place where it can be proved that someone is deliberately encouraging an informal vote, and they should be a lot stronger than they are—$5,000 for a political party is like a parking fine. I did consider new offences, but I have discovered that this might actually create some constitutional issues, so I decided to simply increase the penalties for those who encourage informal voting.