Sepuloni Carmel: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
Sepuloni Carmel: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
[Volume:674;Page:19988] 
CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour) 
: 
 It is nice to stand and speak to the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill (No 2) which all parties across the House support unanimously. Labour supports this bill and we genuinely appreciate the consultative way in which the Government went about making changes to electoral administration. Simon Power has done a good job. He has gone about this electoral reform the right way and we appreciate the bipartisan approach. It is just unfortunate that the process of this bill is in stark contrast with the lawmaking process followed by many other Ministers of the National-led Government and that this process was the exception rather than the rule for this Government. 
The new Electoral Commission will be a more effective regulator of elections and we hope that the new agency will provide better access to electoral services and encourage a more integrated efficient and strategic approach to electoral administration as envisaged not only by the Government but unanimously across the House. [ 
Interruption 
] I am not sure what the member Sandra Goudie was yelling about then but we will just ignore that. 
It is really important to put the bill into perspective so we need to look at the background of what we had prior to what is being pushed forward with this legislation. The former electoral set-up was administered by three separate bodies which had various functions. Lynne Pillay spoke a little bit about them and I would like to go into a little more detail. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: She spoke quite well. 
CARMEL SEPULONI 
: She did—she spoke very well. We had the Chief Electoral Officer who conducted general elections by-elections and referenda. We in this House know all about by-elections this term. The Chief Electoral Officer also dealt with the division of the Ministry of Justice. In a general election year the office employed returning officers for the 70 electorates. It received returns of donations and election expenses from parliamentary candidates and provided information to voters candidates and parties relating to electoral events. That was the Chief Electoral Officer. 
Next we had the Electoral Commission—that is the previous Electoral Commission. It was an independent Crown entity. It registered political parties and party logos. It also received donations protected from disclosure registered parties’ annual returns of donations and returns of election expenses and allocated election broadcasting time and funds to eligible political parties. The commission also encouraged and conducted public education about electoral matters. The third function was the Chief Registrar of Electors which was responsible for the electoral roll. 
The functions of the new Electoral Commission are to conduct elections; deal with donations to and the expenditure of political parties and candidates; inform the public about electoral matters; apportion broadcasting time and funding; register parties and logos; and maintain the electoral roll. In short the new Electoral Commission will take on all of the functions of the three former electoral administration bodies. We support that change and we think it will result in a more efficient system. 
It is great that there was consultation over this issue and a robust process through the Justice and Electoral Committee. Unfortunately we have not seen much of that happen with all of the bills passed by this Government under urgency. But with this bill a good process was undertaken in the select committee. Although I am a member now I was not one of the committee members at the time this bill went through the committee. But from what I hear from my colleagues it was a very collegial environment to be in during the consideration of and deliberation on this bill. It is good to know and good to hear that that is possible in this environment. 
I think a lot of people watching from the outside think that at no point do we come together and agree and at no time do we come together and work collaboratively to come up with the very best legislation that we can. Actually we do that through our select committee process. Unfortunately a lot of the time we do not actually agree on the end result but a very robust process is undertaken through our select committees. This bill is a good example of where that happened. In the end there was unanaimous support for the legislation that resulted. It is good to be standing in the House and speaking about that process. 
As I said before the bill was appropriately scrutinised at the select committee. Given that any changes to the Electoral Act can have constitutional ramifications we are pleased that this bill has passed with cross-party support. Labour has been supportive of the Government’s two-stage approach to reforming the administration agencies. The bill will ensure a smooth process of change. We are supportive of that and we are pleased about that. 
I think I may leave it at that and wait to hear— 
Sandra Goudie 
: Keep going keep going. 
CARMEL SEPULONI 
: Sandra Goudie has had a lot to say as I have been speaking so perhaps she will rise and make a speech on this bill. I guess we will have to wait and see. If she does not then no doubt we will still hear her screeching from the Government backbenches. 
I have just remembered a few more details that I would like to mention. Sandra Goudie asked that I continue so I will continue. She is enjoying my speech so much that I will continue. There are some aspects that I did not discuss. The first stage of administrative reform has taken place already. A lot of people may not know that but it has. The new Electoral Commission was established on 1 October and subsumed the old Electoral Commission and position of Chief Electoral Officer. The second stage provided for in this bill will be completed on 1 July 2012 and will bring the functions of the Chief Registrar of Electors within the new Electoral Commission. 
We support this bill. Again it is great to say that there is cross-party support for it.