Local Government (Elections) (Australian Citizen and Compulsory Voting) Amendment Bill 2024

The Hon. J.S. LEE (17:26): 

I rise today to speak on the Local Government (Elections) (Australian Citizen and Compulsory Voting) Amendment Bill 2024. I thank the Hon. Frank Pangallo for bringing this bill to the chamber and for his clear commitment to strengthening the democratic processes that we hold so dear in this place.

This bill makes two key changes to the Local Government (Elections) Act to align the eligibility and voting requirements of local council elections in South Australia with federal and state elections. The bill would amend the enrolment criteria so that all natural persons must be Australian citizens to be eligible to vote in a South Australian local government election. I understand the honourable member intends for this change to protect local government elections from so-called branch stacking or actively recruiting non-citizens, such as international students, to become politically active in electorates where they only live temporarily.

I believe that revisiting the enrolment criteria has its merits, particularly given the widely publicised legal battle surrounding the 2022 Adelaide City Council Central Ward election. It is very disturbing that the District Court has now ruled that illegal practices did impact the 2022 Adelaide City Council election results and that there were a number of instances where ballot papers were handled or not filled by the intended voters.

While I can certainly see the logic in requiring that residents and ratepayers must be Australian citizens to vote in local government elections, I am concerned, however, that permanent residents will be disenfranchised by this bill. While permanent residents do not have to make a pledge of commitment and pledge their loyalty to Australia like naturalised citizens, especially those who have been here for perhaps 10, 20, 30 or 40 years, they do have a much stronger connection with Australia than temporary visa holders, such as international students.

I know of many permanent residents who have lived in Australia for many years, even decades, who for a range of reasons do not apply for Australian citizenship. However, they are strongly attached to their local communities, and some of them have children and grandchildren who were born in Australia and are Australian citizens. Many permanent residents are business owners and landlords who contribute greatly to the economy and community in their local council areas and who should arguably have a say in the decisions and policies of local government.

Turning now to the second change that is proposed by this bill, I believe that it is reasonable and logical for voting in local government elections to be compulsory just as it is at the state and federal level. Historically, only one-third of voters choose to vote in their local council elections, and councils also struggle to find enough diverse candidates willing to stand for election.

At the 2022 local government elections, there were 24 wards or areas across the state where all the candidates who nominated were elected unopposed. Seven of these required supplementary elections, as there were not enough candidates to fill all the vacant positions. I am incredibly proud as an Australian that we have compulsory voting at the state and federal level, encouraging all of our citizens to actively participate and engage in our democracy and ensuring that government must consider the whole electorate in decision-making. Time and again in countries overseas we see money and effort go into pleading with citizens just to go out and vote, let alone actually engaging voters about policies and key issues.

Over the past 20 years, the local government sector has been making increasingly large investments in promoting elections both to encourage nominations and to increase voter turnout. Despite these investments, engagement with councils at election times has remained at consistently low rates. I understand that voting in local government elections is already compulsory in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It makes perfect sense that compulsory voting should be extended to the local government tier as well to encourage all voters to engage with the local council, which is responsible for the planning, maintenance, land care, community facilities and services that impact our daily lives.

I would hope that such a change would encourage increased voter turnout and increase our democracy and interest in standing for election at the local level to enhance the integrity of our democratic system. I thank the honourable member once again for bringing this bill to the chamber for our consideration.