Electoral Act

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (14:34): I seek leave to give a brief explanation before asking a question of the Attorney-General regarding the Electoral Act.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Section 26 of the Electoral Act states that if a copy of the Electoral Act is provided to a person under this section, other than in the instance of being utilised by that person—a copy of the roll—if information contained within the electoral roll is distributed inappropriately other than in the carrying out of parliamentary business or distribution of campaign material during an election campaign, they potentially face a fine of $10,000. My question is to the minister who is responsible for this legislation: what has the Attorney-General done to ensure the integrity of the local election and the electoral roll itself?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for her question. I think she stated in her question something about providing people with a copy of the Electoral Act and I'm not quite—

The Hon. H.M. Girolamo: Electoral roll.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I think the honourable member said 'Electoral Act' and I am not sure what the relevance is. But in terms of the local government elections, as many honourable members know, there are provisions that are broader in terms of franchise for people who can vote in local government elections, people who would not qualify for a state or federal electoral roll, in provisions under the Local Government Act. I am very happy, as I indicated to the Leader of the Opposition, and I can indicate to the honourable member, to pass those questions on to my colleague in another place, and seek a response. I am assuming the honourable member is referring possibly to some elements of the roll that are used for the purpose of local government elections that may or may not fall outside the state or federal electoral roll.