Ensuring Election Integrity – Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Integrity of Elections) Bill 2021

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When I started researching election integrity I was doing it to show that our elections are secure. That is not what I found. There is no requirement to audit the results and no ID requirements to ensure there is no double voting. Our electoral legislation is full of holes. My bill seeks to fix those holes using audits that many well researched committees, agencies and investigations have already suggested. There really isn’t much reason to vote against it.

Transcript

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia I present the the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Integrity of Elections) Bill 2021, which amends the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

This bill provides for the routine auditing of the electronic component of Australian federal elections and for the provision of voter identification.

It should also be noted that this bill does not look backward to previous elections, but rather forward to ensure confidence in the next election.

During COVID the actions of unelected bureaucrats and incompetent politicians has wiped out small businesses and jobs, disrupted lives and reduced many people to desperation.

The next election will be a powder keg.

It is essential to ensure that Australians can accept the result and move on.

Suspicion of the outcome can be easily fueled, especially on social media, and turned into violence by those who seek to manipulate the result for their own ends.

The level of trust in the result must be commensurate with the current heightened level of risk.

When I started researching election integrity it was to show that our elections are secure. That is not what I found.

The Australian National Audit Office conducted three audits into the 2013 federal election. Their final report came out in 2016. This is what ANAO said about the Australian Electoral Commission (the AEC):

In 2014 the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters wrote to the Auditor General seeking a performance audit focusing on the adequacy of the Australian Electoral Commission implementation of recommendations arising from earlier ANAO audits of the AEC.

The Auditor General decided to conduct 3 related performance audits.

All three reports found that the AEC had not adequately and effectively implemented the earlier ANAO recommendations. The reports concluded that in order to protect the integrity of the Australian electoral system and rebuild confidence in the AEC these recommendations should be implemented.

AUDITOR-GENERAL REPORT NO. 6 OF 2015–16

The report went on to say:

“ANAO plans to undertake a follow-up audit following the next federal election, in 2016, to examine the adequacy and effectiveness of the AEC’s implementation of the ten recommendations made by ANAO across three reports.”

AUDITOR-GENERAL REPORT NO. 6 OF 2015–16

Those recommendations included:

“the AEC must develop a strategy for deeper reform to ensure and demonstrate integrity in all aspects of the election, including a fundamental overhaul of the AEC’s policies and procedures to restore confidence in the electoral process”.

AUDITOR-GENERAL REPORT NO. 6 OF 2015–16

Let me say that again – a fundamental overhaul to ensure election integrity.

Mr President the follow-up audit to test how well the AEC implemented this fundamental review into election integrity never occurred.

Perhaps someone should do a bill to bring on that audit. Oh wait Mr President, I did.

Were ANAO happy for this direction – apparently not.

In their submission to this bill ANAO said my bill was not necessary as they had the power to audit the AEC at any time.

If that is the case then they should get on with it.

Mr President New South Wales and Western Australia have provisions in their electoral acts to audit state elections.

New South Wales conducts an audit before each election to ensure systems are fit for purpose and then audits again after each election to ensure integrity, and to see what can be improved for next time.

Western Australia audits after every election.

There is no audit function currently specified in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

This bill creates a function for the Auditor General to audit the operation of the AEC twice in each election cycle:

  1. In the lead up to the election; and
  2. From polling day to the declaration of the poll.

 The audit provided for in this bill covers electronic measures, and tests if:

“the use of authorised technology produces the same result as would be obtained without the use of authorised technology.”

Put simply this is asking the Auditor General to ensure that the use of computerised voter rolls, tallying, preference allocations and related matters produced a result that accurately reflects the will of the people.

ANAO felt that was too high a bar to meet, I would consider ensuring the will of the people was accurately reflected in the result was the bare minimum for any election audit.

This bill does not specify what will be audited. The decision regarding the operation of the audit is best left to the agencies conducting the audit.

Secondly, this bill authorises the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to audit and monitor computer systems for unauthorised access internally and externally.

This is targeting both unauthorised access from within the system and unauthorised external access by malicious entities.

The Australia Signals Directorate is currently conducting a cyber “uplift program” at the Australian Electoral Commission. While the program is most welcome, there is no basis in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 or the Intelligence Services Act 2001 for that program.

This bill brings legislation into line with current practice.

Mr President In May Senate estimates I asked the Australian Electoral Commission simple questions regarding their auditing. I was assured that audits are occurring. On no occasion then or since have the following questions been answered:

  • Who conducted the audit?
  • When was the audit conducted?
  • What was audited?
  • What was the result?
  • Have any changes been made as a result of the audit?

It is disturbing that such an audit could happen behind closed doors without direction or structure. It is more disturbing that this program has no legal basis in the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

We should not have to rely on the admirable conscientiousness of the Australian Signals Directorate. We should be able to rely on the completeness of our legislation.

Mr President I also looked at other issues around election integrity.

First up was a simple question: At the Senate Scanning Centre is the electronic data file containing each vote ever compared back to the paper ballot after the vote has been adjudicated?

That answer is no. At no time is the electronic record of a vote checked back against the paper ballot once the ballot is adjudicated.

Some disputed votes are held back and adjudicated later in the counting process, then filed away.

There is no routine sampling beyond that point. That is not acceptable.

The third part of my bill is for voter ID. Most of the recommendations in the ANAO report, that was never followed up, went to failures in the integrity of voter rolls.

It is too late to go back now and audit those rolls before the next election, by way of re-commencing residency checks, as ANAO recommended.

It is not too late for a quick fix – which is voter ID. Asking for simple identification will act as an audit on the rolls in real time, and ensure every vote cast was legitimate.

This is not my idea. Recommendation 21 of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry into the 2019 Federal Election called for voter identification to be introduced. This same finding was made in 2016 and 2013.

Schedule 2 of this bill is drafted to give effect to the committee recommendation as literally as possible.

Voters must present a form of acceptable identification to be issued with an ordinary pre-poll or election day vote. Authorised identification must be suitably broad so as to not actively prevent electors from casting an ordinary ballot.

This bill allows a wide range of acceptable voter ID. The AEC is empowered to make further regulations to ensure voters are not disenfranchised.

The AEC noted in their submission to the JSCEM inquiry that:

“multiple voting is frequently the subject of media commentary and social media speculation. Such a degree of focus is entirely understandable: there can hardly be a more emblematic component of trust in electoral results than ensuring eligible voters only exercise the franchise [appropriately].”

Multiple voting is a red herring in this debate. My bill is not concerned with multiple voting, it is concerned with ensuring every vote cast was made according to law.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act (Integrity of Elections Bill) 2021 is about protecting confidence in our elections.

The cyber integrity of our elections and the use of voter identification is essential to that confidence.

I recommend the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Integrity of Elections) Bill 2021 to the Senate.

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Discussing Charleville with the Murweh Mayor, Shaun Radnedge

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Available on these platforms:

For this podcast we are heading west to Charleville, which knows a lot about droughts and flooding rains. Back in 1902 in the midst of a crippling drought, ingenuity and desperation came up with the idea of a vortex gun that would shoot at the clouds to bring about rain, unfortunately without success. Charleville has seen many floods since and in 1990 over 1000 homes were flooded and most of the town evacuated.

Charleville is situated on the Warrego River and positioned on a natural stock route between NSW and QLD. It became an important stopover in the day of Cobb and Co and was eventually settled by pastoralists in the 1860s.

Today Charleville is a vibrant regional town with a population of around 3,500 and boasts Bilbies, black skies and the longest bar, when constructed, in the Southern Hemisphere, at the Corones Hotel.

Charleville is a must visit in outback Queensland and to tell us more about all Charleville has to offer, Malcolm talks with the Murweh Mayor, Shaun Radnedge, or Zoro as he is known locally in Charleville.

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Censorship and crunch time for mandated vaccinations – MARCUS PAUL – 2SM

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Today I chatted with Marcus about the removal of Senator Pauline Hanson’s podcast interview with Jessica Rowe and the looming fate for many workers who have chosen not to have their vaccination by today’s deadline.
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COVID HEARING

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Today, I questioned Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 witnesses from Services Australia and the Digital Transformation Agency in regard to their development of a Digital Passport.  These passport are unnecessary and will divide Australians into two tiers, barring many everyday Australians out of the places and businesses, we have a right to enjoy. 

Australian businesses have already stated that they are hesitant to check the vaccine status of customers due to concerns about staffing capacity and privacy implications. 

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Peaceful assembly is our right

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It is a human right to engage in peaceful assembly and any government who threatens these rights restricts freedom for all of us.

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PM Scott Morrison Calls For Freedom at 2021 U.N. General Assembly

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Copied from Twitter

Cry and mourn for our beloved Australia. Freedoms, dignity and the Australian dream have been crushed.

This is what we have become.

How does it make you feel?

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Healthcare workers don’t support mandatory vaccines

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Over 100 healthcare workers and supporters turned up at short notice to Underwood Park to show their opposition to mandatory vaccines. Within 2 weeks, many of these people will walk off the job because they refuse to be forcibly vaccinated under the threat of losing their livelihood. This was my speech at that meeting.

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Sending your mandatory vaccine concerns straight to the Prime Minister

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As soon as Aged Care workers were told they would be forced to take a vaccine of lose their livelihood my office was flooded. I’ve received thousands more phone calls and emails than the package I am sending here. The Prime Minister needs to step up and stop all vaccine mandates.

Transcript

I wanted to hand deliver this to the Prime Minister but COVID restrictions have stopped that.

These are personal letters from Aged Care workers who do not want to take a vaccine but will quit their job if they are forced.

We’ve received thousands more from aged care workers and Australians across all industries.

I’ll send this to the PM today.

It’s apparent Scott Morrison isn’t listening to Australians who have hesitations about a vaccine that does not have a full approval, only provisional. It’s time he started listening.

You have a right to take a vaccine, you have a right to refuse one. PM, have some guts, stop the vaccine mandates.

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Save our children from a mental health crisis

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As state and federal leaders squabble over COVID responses, many families around Australia face yet another day of emotional and mental trauma at home.  The mental health of our  children and teenagers is the collateral damage of the unnecessarily cruel and inhuman responses to managing COVID.  

Mental health needs an urgent chair at the table of decision-making.  Let the children play. Let the people work.

Transcript

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I’m asked questions from constituents. To what depths of insanity and wickedness have we sunk when government believes it has licence to dictate to parents that they are no longer able to look after their grandchildren?

When it comes to care for children, government has no right to intrude into families and decide what a normal household activity looks like. While Victoria takes the prize for this particularly grotesque directive, all state, territory and federal governments have shown stupidity and inhumanity on incongruent, hypocritical and needlessly destructive COVID restrictions.

Quoting former US Vice-President Hubert Humphrey:

… the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly …

State and federal governance during COVID fails this moral test. Our children are forgotten. Physical, emotional, psychological, educational and health needs have been, in the main, ignored. Yesterday, instead of using her Chief Health Officer as her usual shield to avoid an intelligent statement on our state’s future, the Queensland Premier used our children.

Feigning concern, her question was: what’s going to happen to the children if we open borders too soon? We already know what’s happening to our children: a terrifying unfolding tragedy.

In Victoria, the government received a health report on the state of its children, an ugly and mortifying reflection on Victoria’s abuse of people. Yet the Premier ignores it, buries it, deems it largely unworthy of comment and continues to threaten and scold Victorians over noncompliance with his own insane world view.

Any moral, just, competent and compassionate government would solemnly reflect on the more than 340 teenagers suffering mental health emergencies who are admitted every week to hospitals, a 162 per cent increase; the 156 teenagers rushed to hospital every week for attempting suicide or self-harm, 37 of them needing emergency treatment or surgery, an 88 per cent increase; or the 90 per cent increase in children with eating disorders. This is the ultimate transgression, neglect and abandonment.

This is our vulnerable children’s cry for help. Our persistent ignorance and silence on children’s mental health needs is unforgivable, particularly after 18 months of COVID mismanagement. In New South Wales, more than 40 children and teenagers are daily rushed to hospital for self-harm—up 31 per cent.

The number of acute mental health admissions for children and young people is up 43 per cent. At the Gold Coast hospital, there was a 212 per cent spike in eating disorders from 2019 to 2020. Queensland’s Butterfly Foundation says calls for help for eating disorders increased 34 per cent from January 2020 to January 2021.

Eighty-five per cent were first-time callers to the helpline. In August, Lifeline’s suicide-prevention line had its busiest days in its 57-year history. Children may wait six to nine months before seeing a psychiatrist.

Children suffering with depression, eating disorders or suicidal thoughts may not be able to wait nine months. Will this be the final nail in their coffin?

Parents have to work from home and educate their children and are now frontline mental health workers. Our children’s mental health needs have become more urgent, as never-ending draconian restrictions offer no light at the end of a lengthening tunnel, yet our health officials eagerly and excitedly round up our young for mass vaccinations.

We humans are gregarious and our primal need to socialise sustains our very breath. Persistent, externally and capriciously imposed social isolation tears at the fabric of what makes us human, keeps us physically well and holds us literally sane. An adult brain can work hard at rationalising the incursions, the loss of freedoms and isolation. Sometimes, though, it’s even too much for adults.

Children’s brains are vulnerable and underdeveloped, and it’s inhuman to expect children to process and cope with restrictions that adults impose—adults who themselves appear on the edge of insanity. Our children suffer the greatest deprivations: deprivation of liberty; deprivation of education; deprivation of normal development; deprivation of swings, slippery slides, rides on the bike, swims at the beach and local sport; deprivation of crucial friendship supports and separated parents; and deprivation of loving grandparents’ arms and hugs.

Children must urgently return to the anchors that sustain us. Mental health professionals are campaigning for children’s mental health needs, and it’s overdue that we hear their voices.

People are, rightly, increasingly cynical about governments falsely claiming to be keeping us safe—a deeply sad mocking of reality. Governments are driving us to the wall of insanity, and our children are first in line as collateral damage. Without our mental health, we have no solid grasp on living a life.

Our first duty is to save our children—humankind’s hope and promise. We have one flag. We have one community. We have one nation. We have one future.

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The right to protest is protected by a body of law going back 800 years

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Would the Attorney-General like to take another run at explaining why parliaments in Australia are not in breach of the very principles that define our legal system, the Bible and the Magna Carta, reinforced by the much more recent United Nations charter on human rights?

This is Australia in 2021. It’s a disgrace. We need our freedoms back and we need an Attorney-General who understands the basics on which our freedoms are based.

Transcript

Thank you, Madam Deputy President. I reference the response by the Attorney-General, Senator Cash, to my question on freedom to protest under the body of Australian law. Senator Cash fluffed on about what is in fact a basic element of our democracy.

What she seems to have forgotten is that there is an overarching principle: the right to freedom is a basic inalienable right that our body of law has been formed around. Our laws reflect our Christian heritage and should always do so. Our governing document, our national Constitution, for instance, references God in its preamble.

Without being presumptuous, and while I’m not a biblical scholar or a church-goer, perhaps I should have asked myself earlier than this a fundamental question: what would God do? It turns out that the Bible is quite clear on the issue of freedom. From Galatians 5:1:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm … and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

In this epistle, Paul was urging the new churches he had founded in Galatia to stand against those who were trying to subvert the freedom Christianity had given. Paul’s epistle to the faithful in Galatia could have been written today. The battle for freedom and darkness exist now, as it did 2,000 years ago.

We spent 2,000 years writing a body of law to implement Christian principles, including the right to freedom. These freedoms were first enshrined in the Magna Carta Libertatum—literally the ‘great charter of freedoms’ that the head of the church at the time, the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote in 1215.

Our Attorney-General has demonstrated not only a lack of understanding of man’s laws; she has failed to demonstrate an understanding of God’s laws. Being sworn in on the Bible is clearly no guarantee of believing a word of it. While eminent biblical scholars advise that the Bible is properly understood in context, how could the Attorney-General not have looked this up at any time in the five months the senator has occupied her role?

Five months of widespread and sustained media and social media conversations around the right to protest and the Attorney-General, the highest law officer in the land, was missing in action. Was she not curious about what the law actually said? Let me help on that in the time remaining.

The Magna Carta was written in response to King John exercising his powers, using the principle of vis et voluntas, which translates as ‘force and will’—the making of decisions that were above the law and then using force to create compliance, much like parliaments around Australia are doing right now. Lord Denning described the Magna Carta as:

… the greatest constitutional document of all times—the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot”

I looked through the Magna Carta and I couldn’t see the COVID exemption that allows governments to destroy human rights and do whatever they want if they can get the population scared enough to accept it. Of course, there is no exemption afforded power-mad governments and unelected bureaucrats.

In 1948, before the UN turned into the problem and not the solution, the United Nations charter on human rights declared a few things on freedom of protest that parliaments around Australia are conveniently ignoring. Article 19:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference …

Article 20:

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Article 21:

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country …

This is what protesters are doing: participating in governance, exercising their right to free speech and free association. That’s the very definition of a protest. These are rights that article 30 of the United Nations declaration of human rights protects. It binds governments from breaching the declaration.

It would appear that the Prime Minister and the premiers are seeking to wind back our right to freedom to that which existed prior to 1215, to give themselves the powers that King John used force to exercise.

Would the Attorney-General like to take another run at explaining why parliaments in Australia are not in breach of the very principles that define our legal system, the Bible and the Magna Carta, reinforced by the much more recent United Nations charter on human rights?

I wonder what Monica is thinking, languishing in jail with the promise that she can get out, providing she renounces her membership of a political party. This is Australia in 2021. It’s a disgrace. We need our freedoms back and we need an Attorney-General who understands the basics on which our freedoms are based.

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