John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brown for his question. I have said before in the chamber that the government is very concerned about the allegations of fraud in the conduct of the Afghan elections. It is important to remember that these were the first Afghan-run elections in 30 years. They took place in difficult circumstances. I suspect it is fair to say that they were never going to be a clean run or perfect, but I would suggest it is important that the constitutionally mandated processes for dealing with the electoral complaints are followed.

For its part, Australia has welcomed the decision by the Electoral Complaints Commission to order an audit and recounting of votes at a number of polling stations where fraud is suspected. The commission has indicated that the recount would cover more than 10 per cent of the polling stations. I can say, as I suspect Senator Brown is aware, the commission has already invalidated some of the results. I would stress, as I have before, that these processes need to run their course. A final outcome may not be known until later this month. I can say that Australia supports the call made by the United Nations for these processes to be respected, and people have been requested to be patient while awaiting the final results. It is proper that the Australian government and the international community do that, as well as the Afghans themselves. (Time expired)