Parliamentary Committees

SELECT COMMITTEE ON MATTERS RELATED TO THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 20 MARCH 2010

The Hon. S.G. WADE (17:25): I move:

That the final report of the committee be noted.

In speaking to this motion that the house take note of the paper, I thought I might provide some clarification, because I appreciate that members are assiduously reading their copies of it, and they are saying, 'Why is there so little about the general election of 20 March 2010, considering the topic?' The reason for that is that the interim report of the committee related to the general election of 20 March and was tabled on 5 May 2011. This report focuses on matters related to the local government elections of 2010 and was a result of a referral from the Hon. John Darley in this place subsequent to the establishment of the committee. So, the title of the committee did not change but our mandate increased.

The recommendations of the report deal with a range of issues, such as the engagement of council staff and council officers in the electoral process, the security and scrutiny of voting, increasing the capacity of candidates to provide information and vote, the inclusion of property owners on the local government voters roll, the issue of voter fatigue, resignation rates, dual candidacy and election processes generally. This was the first opportunity I had to chair a committee of this place, and I must thank honourable members who participated for their constructive engagement in the range of issues.

The committee, in this report, makes 16 recommendations, and 11 of those recommendations were made with the unanimous support of the committee. I would like to highlight some of the clusters of recommendations in those 11. As I said, the motion for this committee was initiated by the Hon. John Darley and particularly his concerns about the authenticity of voters' declarations and the processes the commission maintains to maintain the security of voting packs. The committee supported a unanimous recommendation that the Electoral Commission of South Australia develop clear protocols to check the authenticity of voters' declarations with the voting material and to deal with complaints as to missing voting packs.

The committee, throughout its existence (in other words, both in the context of the general election and the local government elections) has reflected the commitment of this house to advocate for the rights of people with disability by highlighting our commitment in the local government election context that ECSA should work with the Australian Electoral Commission and others to explore opportunities to implement electoral innovations to facilitate the votes of people with disability.

The committee unanimously also endorsed the restoration of property owners' entitlements to the local government voters roll and also endorsed a strategy, through two three-year terms, to place local government elections and state government elections at an appropriate distance. Through the recommendations 11 and 12, the local government elections could be conducted at the midpoint of state government terms. The committee was of the view that, through such a mechanism, we could at least reduce the risk of voter fatigue. As I said, these recommendations were supported by all members, and I look forward to favourable consideration of the recommendations by the government.

There were recommendations that were not supported by all members. The Hon. Dennis Hood, the Hon. Russell Wortley and the Hon. Ian Hunter supported the dual candidacy recommendation (that is, recommendation 13), and that was that the current arrangements which do not allow dual candidacy be maintained. In looking at the report, honourable members will understand that, in this context, dual candidacy is meant to refer to whether or not people should have the right or the ability to stand for both a council position and a mayoral position at the same election.

The three members who constituted the majority on that issue felt that dual candidacy should not be allowed. The government members, the Hon. Russell Wortley and the Hon. Ian Hunter, demurred from a number of other recommendations, but I hope they do not mind me saying that I thought that in relation to some of those points it was more a matter of waiting and seeing or a matter of degree than in-principle objection.

As I said, I thank members of the committee for the constructive way they dealt with the issues, and I trust that that constructive engagement will continue when the government comes to look at these recommendations, particularly now that the Hon. Russell Wortley is in the position of being the Minister for State/Local Government Relations. I note that under the procedures of this house the government is not under an obligation to respond to select committee recommendations, but as the minister was a former member of the committee I hope he will see fit to respond formally to the recommendations.

I take this opportunity to thank our researcher Ann Melrose and our secretary Guy Dickson for their diligent work. The quality of both the interim report and the final report are significantly due to their skills and energy. I note that the two ALP members of the committee have, since the conclusion of the final report of the committee, both been appointed as ministers, and I congratulate them. I highlight to Labor members that the best way to become a minister is to serve on select committees—may that be of encouragement to you. I support the motion before the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. G.A. Kandelaars.