A series of electoral changes flagged by the Morrison-Joyce Government are nothing but a transparent attempt to save their own jobs, while undermining Australia’s strong democracy.
Unnecessary and burdensome voter identification laws will make it harder for Australians to cast their vote at the next election.
There is no need for these laws. The Australian Electoral Commission has confirmed the number of vote discrepancies at Australian elections is “vanishingly small” and no one was prosecuted for multiple voting at the 2019 federal election.
Labor will campaign fiercely against these proposed laws, which would require Australians to prove their identity, or risk having their vote torn up.
This underhanded attempt to erode confidence in Australia’s elections is straight out of the playbook of the ‘Try-Hard Trump’, Scott Morrison.
The Government’s plans would not only see a return to long queues at polling booths, but also disenfranchise vulnerable Australians by preventing them from exercising their democratic right to vote.
People living in remote Indigenous communities, those dealing with homelessness, and Australians escaping domestic violence often don’t have the easy access to identification many take for granted.
Instead of working for all Australians, Scott Morrison is working to ensure that those who might not vote for him, can’t vote against him.
Instead of taking action on climate change, helping business recover from the pandemic, or funding our struggling health system – Scott Morrison is spending his time trying to make it harder to vote.
Labor successfully fought against Scott Morrison’s efforts to silence his critics in 2019, when he tried to limit the ability of charities and not-for-profit organisations to speak up on issues important to Australians.
We will fight just as hard against his latest attack on vulnerable Australians and their democratic rights.