Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the last few days, a video exposing preference manipulator Glenn Druery has been circulating on social media. Even the mouthpiece media were forced to acknowledge Druery's boasting confession that he manipulated election results for 25 years to sell seats in parliament. Manipulating preferences is morally reprehensible, and any party that participates in these dodgy deals is morally reprehensible. The scheme involves setting up fake parties and, in effect, selling preferences to parties that otherwise would not get enough votes to win. Most Victorians simply put a 1 above the line without realising where that party's preferences will go.

In the 2021 Western Australian election, Liberal Party preferences elected a Greens member. I am sure voters would not have taken that decision themselves. Any party participating in this scheme clearly puts power ahead of principle. Druery alumni include the Legalise Cannabis Party, the Democratic Labour Party, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party, Fiona Patten's Reason Party, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and, sadly, the Liberal Democrats. One Nation has not used Druery. We have lost elections where we significantly outpolled the winning party yet lost because of Druery's dodgy preference deals.

In 2014, Dan Andrews spoke to the Liberals about abolishing group-voting tickets. It never happened. A lot of Dan Andrews's promises never happen. One Nation's clarity and directness may not suit some people at times, yet with One Nation what you see is what you get. I stress: voters who vote above the line enable parties to allocate their preferences. Instead, for a fair democracy, preferences should not be given to corrupt, undemocratic parties and should always belong to each voter. I urge all Victorians at this weekend's election to vote below the line. Mark at least five squares. Ten is better. That's the only way voters can control and allocate who gets preferences. We have one flag, we are one community, we are One Nation and we value and protect democracy.