Ms ROSOL (Bass) – Honourable Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Electoral Amendment (Alternative Voting Procedures) Bill 2025. I also extend my thanks to the Attorney-General and his department for the briefing at short notice. I really appreciated that.
The Greens love democracy. One of our pillars is a commitment to grassroots democracy. I want to affirm the importance of democracy: the idea that everybody in our community should have a voice and a say in the decisions that are made on our behalf as a community.
As Ms Haddad, the member for Clark, was saying earlier, we only have to look around the world at the moment and see that democracy is under threat in many different places, particularly in the United States of America with the things that are happening there
In Australia, our democracy is precious and hopefully strong and stable. An important part of democracy is the right to vote. It is a core democratic right to be able to vote and to have a voice and to have a say. Accessibility ensures that all people have that right to vote and to have a say – that they are enabled, that they are included and that they are given a voice in decisions that we are making. We cannot make very good decisions if we are not listening to everybody, particularly the people who are affected.
The Greens support this bill because we appreciate that it will increase accessibility of voting and give flexibility to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission to be able to provide additional services that will enable more people in Tasmania to vote.
The situation in in Tasmania has been difficult up until now. I wanted to read from a submission that was made by the Blind Citizens Australia (Tasmania Branch) and Disability Voices Tasmania in August last year to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. The story of David and Carol was included in that submission, and I will read from it now because I believe it highlights the importance of this bill:
David has very little vision. His wife Carol uses a wheelchair that she cannot push herself. Carol’s eyes, David’s muscles. David and Carol went to their usual polling place a few hundred metres from home. It was closed. Not to worry, just jump in the car like most Tasmanians, drive to the nearest polling place and get on with the day. But neither David nor Carol are able to drive, and accessible taxis would turn a quick trip into a long afternoon with who knows what access to wheelchair-friendly toilets.
This would also have involved a $30 to $40 fare on a pension. All other polling places were wheelchair accessible with assistance. David would have to help Carol past unknown barriers in unfamiliar places where he could use his white cane as a visual aid if he could.
So, David and Carol gave up and did not vote. David acknowledges he could have applied for a postal vote before polling day. This would have meant he had to fumble with the ballot papers and envelopes while holding a pencil in one hand and a magnifier in the other. Carol could have fumbled with the papers and tried to keep the pencil in her stroke‑affected hands.
Here we have a story of people who were excluded and not able to vote in a recent election. I went back to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s website to look at what was available in terms of access to voting for vision‑impaired and assisted voting for people in the 2024 State Election. Before polling day there were three locations, one in Burnie, one in Hobart and one in Launceston, that were designated as vision‑impaired and assisted voting sites. On election day, on the actual polling day on 23 March, there were three sites, Burnie, Hobart and Newnham in Launceston. Accessibility has been a significant issue in Tasmania for people wanting to vote and we believe that this amendment to the Electoral Act will go towards addressing that.
Section 4 of the bill states, ‘The object of this division is to ensure that electors of all abilities and needs are reasonably provided with the opportunity to vote at an election.’ That is a great objective to have and something we need in Tasmania.
The Greens also appreciate that this bill contains many opportunities for alternatives. It is not limited to just one way of doing things. People can raise issues about accessibility with the commission, and the commission may act. In clause 4 of the bill, 130C(2), it says:
(2) The Commission may act under subsection (1) –
- on its own motion; or
- on the request of an accessibility and inclusion organisation.
The Greens value that there are two different ways that alternative voting procedures can be raised. That is through the commission choosing to do it or through a request from others. That provides many opportunities for these issues to be addressed.
The following clause, 130C (3), says:
Before taking any action under subsection (1), the Commission is to, as far as is practicable, consult with any accessibility and inclusion organisation that the Commission considers necessary and appropriate.
I draw attention to that and highlight the importance of people with disabilities and accessibility needs being included and consulted along the way, and having a voice. They are not just having a voice in their vote, but also having a voice in the way alternative voting procedures are arranged for them.
Thank you for this bill. We definitely support it and look forward to all Tasmanians having the ability to exercise their democratic right, to vote and have a say in who represents them in government.
