Chapter 1 Introduction
Committee role
1.1
A joint committee of the parliament, now known as the Joint Standing
Committee on Electoral Matters, has examined the conduct of every federal election
and related matters for the past 25 years.
1.2
The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters of the 42nd
parliament is continuing this practice with its review of the 2007 election and
related matters.
1.3
The committee’s reference to undertake the election inquiry is drawn
from a formal request by the Special Minister of State, Senator the Hon John
Faulkner to ‘inquire into and report on all aspects of the 2007 federal election
and matters related thereto’.
1.4
This reference has been supplemented by two Senate resolutions requiring
the committee to examine, as part of the 2007 election inquiry, specific issues
relating to election funding and disclosure arrangements and the method used to
vote for Senate elections as proposed by the Commonwealth Electoral (Above
the Line Voting) Amendment Bill 2008.[1]
Scope
1.5
This report is the committee’s second report for the 2007 election
inquiry. The first report, which concentrated on the electronic voting trials,
was tabled in the parliament in March 2009.[2]
1.6
As noted above, part of the committee’s terms of reference from the
Senate require an examination of funding and disclosure issues. The committee
has elected to defer reporting on these issues until a separate consultation
process, in the form of a government green paper, is finalised.
1.7
The committee has produced a separate report on the Senate reference in
relation to the system of voting for Senate elections proposed by the Commonwealth
Electoral (Above the Line Voting) Amendment Bill 2008.
1.8
The bulk of this report is therefore devoted to the conduct of the election,
including the administration of the electoral roll, nature of campaigning,
voting and counting. Several more immediate issues relating to electoral roll
maintenance and a number of longer term issues relating to the administration
of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and the design of regulatory
arrangements are also canvassed.
1.9
The committee has sought to specifically address all of the
19 recommendations made by the AEC in its first submission (number 169),
and any further areas for changes proposed by the AEC during the course of the
inquiry.[3]
1.10
The committee has not addressed the detailed issues associated with the
distribution of unauthorised election material in the division of Lindsay on
the eve of the 2007 election in this report. Further investigation has been
deferred until the court processes have been finalised. The committee does,
however, note the inadequacy of the penalties handed down to those who were
convicted of breaching the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (chapter 10).
1.11
Election inquiries conducted by former Joint Standing Committees on
Electoral Matters have generally covered a range of issues that are related to
broader debates about the nature of our democratic system. These include issues
such as four year or fixed terms for the House of Representatives, the adoption
of optional preferential voting systems for House of Representatives elections,
and the compulsory nature of enrolment and voting.[4]
1.12
In contrast to previous election inquiries, the committee did not
receive a large number of submissions that related to these issues.[5]
The committee notes that the government’s green paper process is proposing to
examine these broader issues in the proposed second part of the green paper to
be released later in 2009.[6] As a result, the
committee has not seen the need to address these particular issues in this report.
Conduct
1.13
The inquiry was advertised nationally in The Australian newspaper
on 2 April 2008 and members of the public were invited to make
submissions.
1.14
The committee also wrote to all Members and Senators and Senators-elect;
state premiers and chief ministers, the Australian Electoral Commission, state
and territory electoral commissions, registered major political parties and
selected academics.
1.15
The committee received submissions to the inquiry from
198 individuals and organisations (appendix A). The committee held a
number of public hearings in the major capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne,
Adelaide, Perth and Canberra), including several roundtables to discuss
specific issues (appendix B).
1.16
The submissions and transcripts of evidence from the public hearings are
available from the committee’s website www.aph.gov.au/em.