Just as we did in the other place, the Greens will be proudly and gladly supporting the Electoral Amendment (Alternative Voting Procedures) Bill 2025.
Mr President, I thank the members who have spoken in support of this bill. I appreciated your contributions.
Almost every voter walks to the ballot box with a set of interests guiding their decision to vote. That is normal and a part of 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.
Mr President, the Greens maintain our strong support for the repeal of Section 196 of the Electoral Act 2004.
The bill before us has been to this place and discussed on a number of occasions, this electoral amendment Bill and the Greens will be supporting this change to section 196 because we have long felt that it is constraining people's rights to speak freely and make political statements in an election period and that the explosion of social media and the changes in communications that have occurred since the act first was written in 2004 means that there is wide disparity between the intentions of what was trying to be achieved in 2004 and the reality of political campaigning in 2024.
Tasmania will finally have political donations laws but they will be the weakest in the nation
Independents and civil society have been really clear that this can only be seen as an enormous backflip by the Labor Party.
This has been a weeping sore running in the Tasmanian parliament for more than half of this year.
For five years your Government has promised to reform Tasmania's nation-lagging electoral laws.