Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the acute lessons we are learning this century is that the democracy that so many of us have enjoyed can no longer be taken for granted. Democracy is fragile. It is a work in progress. It is not something that we can set and forget. Our democracy is built on trust in institutions, on trusted information and on a level of trust in those of us in this building who govern for the country. As a member of the Joint Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, I have been participating in the inquiry into the conduct of the 2022 federal election. One area of inquiry is how we approach the issues of misinformation and disinformation. They are becoming more and more common and having an impact—a negative impact—on our electoral contests.

In a world where anyone for free can advertise on Facebook, TikTok, X or any other platform, our challenge is ensuring we have a well-informed electorate by ensuring that the information put out there is accurate. But the problem we face is not a lack of information. There is plenty of information out there about all sorts of things, and not all of it is accurate. The challenge is ensuring that, when we're looking at our electoral system, the information that is provided—information that is perpetuated and proliferated out there to the voting public—is accurate, honest, and transparent. And this is a far cry from the world of, say, 30 years ago where the effort to engage in political advertising was much more challenging and much less accessible.

The increased accessibility that we enjoy and the information flow that is available can be a really good thing. It does mean more diverse opinions and perspectives, and it can mean a greater engagement in our democracy. But what it should never mean and what we need to guard against is more emotive and incorrect information being used to artificially sway votes. Misinformation and disinformation in Australia have already been sent to target minority and disadvantaged groups more intensely and is often seen to be backed by big money and done with an intent to change electoral outcomes in a bad way. Often this information is not based on honesty and not based on the genuine values or opinions of those standing for election.

As a South Australian I want to raise a point about the legislation that we have in South Australia and have had since the eighties, which is legislation to counter inaccurate and misleading material. The Electoral Commission of South Australia can act on any material brought to their attention within an election period that contains a statement purporting to be fact if it is both misleading and inaccurate in a material way. They can act to impose a fine or request that the material not be further published or that the inaccurate or misleading statement be publicly retracted. For example, if you've sent out 50,000 letters and they contain something that is indeed misleading and/or inaccurate, you can be made to send out another 50,000 letters to say that you were not correct in what you had asserted. It has a huge impact on how elections are run in South Australia, which is a good thing.

Since the eighties, when it was introduced, everyone has come to a place where they are mindful about the information that they put out into the public domain, partly because the good people of South Australia believe in democracy and believe in honesty and truthfulness and partly because the legislation that we have in place is a huge disincentive. The disincentive to participants in our elections claiming things they know to be false nips that misinformation in the bud. We know that it works in South Australia. The sky has not fallen in, everybody seems to rub along quite well with it and we have a healthy, thriving democracy. It is a simple proposition, and one that the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has put forward in their interim report. It is just one of the steps that we can take in restoring the faith in our democracy and restoring the faith and trust in politics, which is a responsibility that we all have. I look forward to continuing that work and gaining the support of all my colleagues in this chamber.