ELECTORAL (MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT BILL

Third Reading

Third reading.

The PRESIDENT: I certify that this fair print is in accordance with the bill as agreed to in committee and reported with amendments.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:34): I move:

That the bill be recommitted to a committee of the whole council to insert clauses Nos 5 and 23.

Committee Stage

Bill recommitted.

New clause 5.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I move:

After clause 4 insert:

5—Amendment of section 26—Inspection and purchase of rolls

(1) Section 26(1)—after 'Copies' insert:

(whether in printed or electronic form)

(2) Section 26(1)(c)—delete paragraph (c)

(3) Section 26(2)—delete subsection (2) and substitute:

(2) The Electoral Commissioner must, on request—

(a) provide a member of the House of Assembly with an up-to-date copy of the electoral roll for the member's district;

(b) provide a member of the Legislative Council with an up-to-date copy of the electoral roll for the Legislative Council district;

(c) provide the registered officer of a registered political party with an up-to-date copy of any electoral roll for any district;

(d) provide a person who is a nominated candidate in an election with an up-to-date copy of the electoral roll for—

(i) in the case of a person who is a candidate in an election for a House of Assembly district—that district; or

(ii) in the case of a person who is a candidate in a Legislative Council election—the Legislative Council district.

(3) If, in accordance with an electoral redistribution under the Constitution Act 1934, the area of a House of Assembly district (the relevant district) will, from the day on which a general election of members of the House of Assembly is next held, be altered to include any part of the area of another House of Assembly district, the Electoral Commissioner must, on request, provide an up-to-date copy of the electoral roll for that other House of Assembly district to—

(a) the current House of Assembly member for the relevant district;

(b) any person who is a nominated candidate for an election in the relevant district.

(4) The following provisions apply in connection with the operation of subsections (2) and (3):

(a) a request under subsection (2) may be made on the basis that a copy of the relevant roll (or rolls) will be provided on a monthly basis (and the Electoral Commissioner is not required to provide a roll to a particular person (or registered political party) more frequently than once in each month);

(b) a copy of a roll may be provided in electronic form (as determined by the Electoral Commissioner);

(c) a copy of a roll must be provided without the requirement to pay a fee.

(5) If a copy of the roll is provided to a person under this section, a person who uses that copy of the roll, or information contained in that copy of the roll, for a purpose other than—

(a) the carrying out of functions of a member of the Parliament of the State or the Commonwealth or a council constituted under the Local Government Act 1999; or

(b) the distribution of matter calculated to affect the result of a State, Commonwealth or local government election or purposes related to the holding of such elections,

is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: $10,000.

Honourable members will recall that the committee agreed to move on from clause 5. Some issues were raised about particular matters, and I indicated that, rather than bog down the bill at that time, we would revisit those. Section 26 of the act requires the commissioner to make copies of the latest prints of the electoral rolls available for public inspection and purchase. As introduced into the council, clause 5 of the bill amended section 26 to allow electronic versions of the roll to be used by the commissioner for inspection purposes, to ban the sale of the rolls, to require the commissioner to provide up-to-date copies of the rolls to members of parliament, registered political parties and nominated candidates, and to restrict the use of information provided to members of parliament, parties and candidates to state, federal or local government purposes.

Several members moved amendments to clause 5, as did the government, and ultimately it was voted down. This amendment reinstates clause 5 as originally proposed, but with two changes. First, the amended clause picks up the government's minor technical amendment as proposed to subsection (4). As members would recall, I moved an amendment to subsection (4) on behalf of the government to correct a minor drafting omission.

Secondly, the offence provision in subsection (5) has been amended to address concerns raised by the Hon. Robert Lawson and others about the original offence provision. The original offence provision prohibited the use of roll information provided to an MP, registered party or nominated candidate under proposed section 26(2) for a purpose other than a state, federal or local government purpose. In this version of clause 5, proposed section 26(5) provides:

(5) If a copy of the roll is provided to a person under this section, a person who uses that copy of the roll, or information contained in that copy of the roll, for a purpose other than—

(a) the carrying out of functions of a member of the parliament of the state or the commonwealth, or a council constituted under the Local Government Act 1999; or

(b) the distribution of matter calculated to affect the result of the state, commonwealth or local government election or purposes related to the holding of such elections,

is guilty of an offence.

'Functions' for the purpose of subsection (5)(a) is not defined. It should be given its usually accepted meaning, being 'a proper or necessary role, activity or purpose'. The government submits that this places limits on the term in the context of subsection (5)(a).

As to subsection (5)(b), the distribution of matter calculated to affect the result of an election or any purpose related to the holding of an election, this is intentionally broad. This government intends that this form of words will cover the distribution of material by candidates in an election and fundraising for the purposes of an election. Thus, I believe that this would address the concerns raised as to whether the original form of the bill would give proper exemption to the work of members of parliament.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: I am glad the government has adopted the suggestions made. The bill as originally proposed was, in the view of the council, unsatisfactorily restrictive and the formula now embodied in subsection (5) is a better one, even though it remains reasonably vague. The language 'carrying out the functions of a member of parliament' is obviously quite wide in its import but nowhere near as restrictive as that originally proposed, so we will certainly support the amendment.

New clause inserted.

New clause 23.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I move:

After clause 22 insert:

23—Substitution of section 66

Section 66—Delete the section and substitute:

66—Preparation of certain electoral material

(1) The Electoral Commissioner must have the following electoral material prepared for use in polling booths on polling day:

(a) posters formed from how-to-vote cards submitted by the candidates in the election; and

(b) in relation to a Legislative Council election—posters or booklets, or posters and booklets containing the voting tickets registered for the purposes of the election.

(2) Material submitted for inclusion under subsection (1)—

(a) must list candidates in the same order as their names will appear on the relevant ballot paper; and

(b) must comply with any other requirement prescribed by the regulations; and

(c) must be submitted in a quantity determined by the Electoral Commissioner; and

(d) in the case of how-to-vote cards, must be received by the Electoral Commissioner not later than 4 days after the day for nomination; and

(e) if 2 or more candidates form a group for the purposes of a Legislative Council election—must be jointly submitted by or on behalf of all candidates in the group; and

(f) must not identify a candidate—

(i) by reference to the registered name of a registered political party or a composite name consisting of the registered names of 2 registered political parties; or

(ii) by the use of a word or set of words that could not be, or may not be able to be, registered as the name, or as part of the name, of a political party under Part 6 because of the operation of section 42(2)(e) or (3)(b),

unless the candidate provides the Electoral Commissioner with a declaration (in the form determined by the Electoral Commissioner) that is signed by a person authorised by the relevant parliamentary party or registered political party (as the case may require) and states that—

(iii) the candidate is endorsed by the party; or

(iv) the party has consented to the use of the relevant name or names or word or words; and

(g) in the case of how-to-vote cards—must, in relation to how-to-vote cards submitted by or on behalf of the same candidate or group of candidates, be in identical form.

(3) The form of a poster or booklet prepared under this section will, subject to this section, be as determined by the Electoral Commissioner.

(4) The order in which the electoral material referred to in subsection (1) is arranged will correspond to the order in which the names of candidates will appear on the relevant ballot paper.

(5) The presiding officer at each polling booth must—

(a) ensure that, in relation to a House of Assembly election, posters prepared under subsection (1)(a) are displayed in each voting compartment; and

(b) ensure that all other posters and booklets prepared under subsection (1) are displayed or made available (as the case may be) in a prominent position in the polling booth and in accordance with any direction issued by the Electoral Commissioner.

This proposed new clause relates to section 66 of the Electoral Act, which sets out the electoral material the commissioner must display at polling booths. Relevantly section 66(1) requires the commissioner to display: (a) posters formed from the how-to-vote cards submitted by candidates; and (b) posters containing the voting tickets registered for the Legislative Council election. Section 66(6) provides that the presiding officer at each polling booth must cause: (a) the how-to-vote card posters to be displayed in each voting compartment; and (b) the voting ticket posters to be displayed in a prominent position in the polling booth.

As introduced in the council, clause 23 repealed and replaced section 66 with a provision incorporating a number of changes, including a provision that the Legislative Council voting tickets could be displayed in poster or booklet form, and that the posters and booklets formed from the voting tickets and how-to-vote cards could be displayed or made available in a prominent position in the polling booth (rather than, in the case of the posters formed from the how-to-vote cards, in each voting compartment).

When the committee last considered this clause a number of honourable members raised a concern about the display of the posters formed from how-to-vote cards, in particular whether the posters ought to be displayed in each voting compartment (as is the case now), or in a prominent position in the polling booth (as would have been the case under new section 66).

The posters of concern are those formed from the House of Assembly how-to-vote cards. The Legislative Council how-to-vote cards simply advise an elector to vote '1' above the line. This amendment inserts a new clause 23 into the bill. New clause 23 inserts new section 66 into the act that is in the same terms as that previously proposed, except that new subsection (5) provides that, while the posters or booklets formed from the Legislative Council voting tickets and how-to-vote cards may be displayed or made available in a prominent position in the polling booth, the posters formed from the House of Assembly how-to-vote cards must be displayed in each voting compartment.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: I have a question of clarification for the minister, because he is right: a number of us did raise the issue of ensuring that what had already happened in past state elections was that when people walked through the gate into the polling booth area they were given a how-to-vote card by a party or an Independent, and there was always a copy of that which the officer responsible for the management of that booth had placed in each cubicle. That was what I understood that the Legislative Council supported and voted for.

My question for the minister is: is the actual how-to-vote card of the parties and Independents going to be displayed in its entirety in the cubicle? Section 66(1)(a) refers to 'posters formed'—the word 'formed' worries me—'from how-to-vote cards submitted by the candidates in the election'. Whilst I acknowledge and accept that it is more appropriate for voting below the line, where there is a lot of detail and someone wants to go to a central point for that, I accept the government's point of view there; but where it has the party and the order of recommendation for that party on the how-to-vote card, it also has a '1' for the Legislative Council. I had understood that that would be displayed in its entirety in the polling booth, the actual cubicle, and it was only if someone then wanted to work through voting below the line that they had a central point to go to for that information.

To summarise, I am asking the minister to confirm that there would not be any cutting and pasting of those how-to-vote cards so that, in fact, it did not make a recommendation on how a person could vote for that party or Independent if they wanted to go above the line with a '1'.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: My understanding is that what will be in the polling compartment will be the House of Assembly voting cards as registered. From memory, they are a different how-to-vote card from that normally handed to individuals coming in, which would have both houses on it. So, what is handed out by parties outside would be different from that which would be put up in the booth. It has to be the registered how-to-vote card and, from memory, they are of a standard size. Otherwise, if one did not have that then one could publish, presumably, larger how-to-vote cards and you would have no control over the size. I think they are all of a standard size.

It seems that they are published by the Electoral Commission, so that is what is put up. It is not the how-to-vote cards as the parties themselves would distribute to voters going into the polling booth, which would have both the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council cards (which may be on the top, the back, the bottom, or whatever); these would be just the special House of Assembly cards. The Legislative Council cards would be displayed either in a prominent position in the polling booth or in the new format.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Can the minister refresh us on what was the situation prior to the last election? Whilst I hear everything the minister just said, my recollection is that in previous situations a party's how-to-vote card in the booth actually showed how to vote for the House of Assembly and above the line for that party. Is that not right, or am I mistaken?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: My advice is that previously there were how-to-vote cards, but they did not have all the numbers; they just had 'vote 1 in the box'. What is being proposed now is that, because that information does not really contribute anything, it is not like the how-to-vote card below the line for the Legislative Council or the House of Assembly, where one might be interested in the order of preferences that are recommended by the parties in their how-to-vote cards. For above the line voting which is done now it is just '1' for the relevant box of the party. The view is that that does not really add any information.

If I recall the debate properly, I think the real fear is that we are now basically running out of room. I think the commissioner's fear is that, with this requirement, as we get more and more candidates, there simply will not be room in the polling compartment to have every single relevant House of Assembly how-to-vote card, as well as all the Legislative Council cards. This is a practical way of getting around that problem.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: I indicate that the opposition will support this amendment. However, it seems to me that there was a misunderstanding on the part of the Hon. Mr Brokenshire in posing his questions. Currently, how-to-vote information for both the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly is displayed in each booth. Under this new arrangement, only the House of Assembly how-to-vote information will be in the booth; the Legislative Council how-to-vote information will not be displayed in the booth but will be displayed elsewhere in the polling station.

That is a significant change. We accept it on the basis of the Electoral Commissioner's statement that, with the increasing size of the Legislative Council voting paper, there is simply insufficient room in each compartment to publish all the information. So there is a change, as I understand it, for the reason I have given.

New clause inserted.

Third Reading

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:50): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (15:50): The position of my party on the electoral bill as it was initially introduced by the government was that we did not support it. It contained a number of features which we believed to be partisan and to be designed to assist the government party and those who hold incumbency. It was also designed, as we saw it, to restrict freedom of expression in electoral matters, and it had other features that were unsatisfactory.

I might just list all of those unsatisfactory features in the original bill. First, there was a ban on electoral advertising on public roads, principally a ban on corflutes, a ban that was to cease after the 2014 election. The provisions relating to itinerant electors gave such electors, in effect, a right to enrol in a self-selected electorate. Access to the electoral roll by members of parliament was limited and candidates had no right to access. The provisions about the use to which information on the roll could be put were vague. There was the creation of a new offence restricting political advertising without the consent of a candidate, and there was also the provision about removing 'how to vote' information from voting compartments.

All those unsatisfactory elements have been removed—ultimately, with the assent of the government, albeit grudging assent in certain cases—and the bill has been greatly improved by the removal of those unsatisfactory provisions and also by amendments that have clarified some of the provisions. It is for those reasons that the opposition will now not be voting against but indeed supporting the third reading of this bill.

Bill read a third time and passed.