Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Special Minister of State and Minister for the Public Service and Integrity. How will the amendments to the Commonwealth Electoral Act currently before the Senate improve participation by Australians in our electoral system?

Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service and Integrity) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Banks for his question. The member for Banks has an enduring interest in electoral matters and in electoral reform, and is of course Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. The bills to which he refers, if passed, will enhance the integrity of the electoral system, which depends on upon a sound electoral roll.

The Australian Electoral Commission estimates that today up to 1.5 million Australian electors are not on the electoral roll—that is, 1.5 million eligible Australians are not on the electoral roll. The ABS estimates that there are 15.7 million eligible Australians but only 14.2 million are currently on the roll. That significant gap represents an average of 10,000 people in every federal division. That gap challenges the very concept of universal adult suffrage, which has been the cornerstone of Australian electoral practice since before the creation of our Constitution. Indeed, the Constitution requires that members of this place be directly chosen by the people.

The AEC acknowledges the gap. It has launched the Year of Enrolment and it has been working hard to get as many people as it possibly can to correct their enrolment or to enrol. Transactions have increased to 20,000 new enrollees or enrolment transactions per week since that campaign started. The two electoral amendment bills listed for debate in the other place, if passed, will help the AEC further close the gap for the 1.5 million electors. The bills respond to concerns from the AEC, which has for many years urged successive parliaments to take action to enhance the integrity of the Australian electoral roll. The bills will give the AEC the capacity to update the roll from third-party sources of information. These third parties will include the Australian Taxation Office, motor registries, and state and territory electoral commissions—effectively harmonising the Commonwealth electoral roll with those rolls in New South Wales and Victoria.

Since the equivalent changes have been made in New South Wales and Victoria, around 100,000 new electors have been added to the roll in New South Wales alone; in Victoria, the number is probably closer to 10,000. We know that these measures work. We know that they improve the integrity of our electoral system and we know that they produce a better roll.

It is important to emphasise that these reforms are a safety net. The bills will not change the grounds upon which a person becomes entitled to enrol and vote. I call upon all those members opposite to support these measures as the bills retain the integrity safeguards of the current system and more. The bills are fundamental to maintaining strong levels of electoral participation and ensure the strength, resilience and integrity of our electoral law. I commend them to the House. (Time expired)