Page 3083 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 17 October 2007
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8.00 pm of the day that the writs for the election are delivered to finalise their enrolment. I think that is something that people did not understand when the changes were first made. I think people felt that the rolls would close the day the election was called, so it was with some relief that we found that there were three or four days to do that.
As usual the incumbent government has the advantage. I note that everybody in the ACT has received a letter from Mr Humphries which gives them a form and advises them that they can do a postal vote—no doubt preferably for him and other Liberal candidates—and post that back to him. So there is every indication that these changes were made because the government had done the research and found out that it would be advantaged by these changes.
It is an unreasonable expectation, given that the mass of people are only reminded to enrol after an election has been announced. There has been a very big—and no doubt an expensive—campaign by the electoral commission, which has been diligently doing its job, to inform people about the changes. But we know that many people would not have even been alerted to the fact there was a federal election coming up until the day it was called and, sadly, many will not even realise it until a day or two beforehand.
Unfortunately, not everybody in our community is engaged in the political process as we are. The legislation gave three days for voters who are already enrolled to update their details if they have moved or their circumstances have changed. Interestingly enough, I moved into a different rental house in May this year and I have received a letter—from Gary Humphries, of course—inviting me to vote. But clearly the person who lived in my house a number of years ago is still on the electoral roll at that house.
That is a random sample but it indicates that there is a problem. As well as this, people expecting to become Australian citizens by election day are also subject to this three-day rule. This greatly restricts the capacity of new voters in particular to prepare for an election. So these changes are particularly significant to those planning to travel, young people, new citizens or anyone unfamiliar with the changes. At the time this speech was written, according to the AEC approximately half of 18-year-olds were not enrolled to vote.
The homeless are also disenfranchised by these changes. Homeless people are often unable to access news till days after the rest of the community, if they have access at all, and so by the time they hear that the election has been called it may be too late to enrol or to update their details. This further alienates the homeless community from the political process—and they are a group that the government should be making strong efforts to support. We should be trying to make it easier, more flexible and more straightforward for those who want to participate.
We have also noted that the vote has been removed from prisoners serving a full-time sentence. I believe they are citizens like anyone else and may have very good reason and a very strong desire to vote a certain way. There is an increase in nomination deposits for candidates, the removal of requirements for publisher and broadcaster returns, and deregistering of political parties without current or past representation in
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