Carter John: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Carter John: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10621] 
Hon JOHN CARTER (Minister of Civil Defence)  
on behalf of the  
Minister of Justice 
: I move  
That the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. I want to thank the Justice and Electoral Committee for its careful consideration of the bill. It is the first stage in the amalgamation of the functions of the three current electoral agencies into one. Currently responsibility for electoral administration is split between the Chief Electoral Officer the Electoral Commission and the Chief Registrar of Electors through the Electoral Enrolment Centre. 
This bill establishes a new Electoral Commission and transfers the functions of the current Chief Electoral Officer and Electoral Commission to it. The new Electoral Commission will be fully functional as of 1 October this year in time to administer the next general election and the referendum on the MMP voting system. A second bill will follow this legislation transferring the functions of the Chief Registrar of Electors to the new Electoral Commission in 2012. 
The select committee initially received eight submissions that supported the bill’s aims of amalgamating the functions of the three electoral agencies. The core concerns identified by submitters centred on the independence of the electoral agency and its relationship with the executive and the House. A majority of the submissions recommended that the new electoral agency be established as an Officer of Parliament rather than an independent Crown entity as the bill proposes. 
On a related theme a number of submissions proposed that the appointment and removal process for the new electoral commissioners be strengthened in some way. Others suggested that the Speaker should be the responsible Minister or that the Electoral Commission should be able to provide advice on electoral matters directly to the House. To assist the committee in its consideration of these matters it sought further advice from Mr David McGee QC who is the previous Clerk of the House and a current Ombudsman; the chief executive of the Electoral Commission; and the Officers of Parliament Committee. 
As a result the select committee recommended that the new Electoral Commission should still be established as an independent Crown entity with a number of additional safeguards. First the commissioners are to be appointed or removed by the Governor-General on a recommendation from the House of Representatives rather than by the Minister of Justice per se. Given the important constitutional role of the commissioners the Minister of Justice had earlier added the requirement for the Minister of Justice to consult other parliamentary parties prior to making an appointment. However I welcome the recommendation to make this process even more transparent by putting the appointment motion to the House thereby creating a strong incentive to ensure that the candidates enjoy the confidence of a broad cross-section of parties. 
The committee also supports a suggestion made by Mr McGee that the Standing Orders Committee be invited to develop an appointment protocol for these and similar appointments made by the House. Second the committee recommends adding a new power to enhance the new Electoral Commission’s independence and effectiveness to enable the commission to provide information and advice to the Minister or the House of its own volition and at any time. This new power will complement other functions already provided for in the bill to enable the Minister or the House to seek the commission’s advice and for the commission to provide a post-election report to the House. A new function of the commission is to make information available in order to assist parties candidates and others to help them meet their statutory obligations in respect of electoral matters. 
I trust that the amendments to the appointment removal and advisory functions will allay many of the concerns of submitters regarding the independence of the Electoral Commission from the executive. However I remind the House that these safeguards will accompany many other mechanisms that already protect the status of independent Crown entities. These include the Electoral Commission’s statutory duty of independence and the inability of the Minister to direct the Electoral Commission to give effect or have regard to Government policy. 
Although the Officer of Parliament model given its independent status appeared to be an attractive alternative for the new Electoral Commission the committee ultimately decided that it was not a good fit for the function of the commission. Officers of Parliament such as the Ombudsmen and the Auditor-General provide a check on the arbitrary use of power by the executive whereas the core role of the proposed Electoral Commission is the provision of electoral services. 
It must be remembered that the overall aim of this bill is to improve the administration of elections by providing for a single agency to be established with that responsibility. A further change recommended by the committee which is also supported by the Government provides that each of the electoral commissioners has a distinct role—the chairperson the deputy chairperson and the Chief Electoral Officer. 
The commission considered submissions on a number of other areas but recommended no other substantive change to the bill. I support the approach taken by the Justice and Electoral Committee in consideration of this bill and the unanimous recommendations which reflect careful consideration. I also thank all of those who took the time to submit or provide advice on the bill which is all the stronger for it. I commend this bill to the House.