Electoral Legislation Amendment (Elections) Bill 2026 - Second Read Speech
I speak in support of the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Elections) Bill 2026. I note the contribution of my colleague the member for Balmain, Kobi Shetty, the Greens spokesperson for democracy, who led in debate on the bill in the other place.
The bill introduces sensible measures that strengthen integrity and confidence in the electoral system in this State. The bill makes amendments to the Electoral Act 2017, the Electoral Funding Act 2018, the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 and the Local Government Act 1993 to facilitate the 2027 New South Wales general election, which is obviously very important. It implements the Government's response to recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters [JSCEM] report from its inquiry into the administration of the 2023 election and other matters. It makes further provision regarding new party registration, administration, disclosures and other matters.
As a member of the JSCEM, I am pleased to see that many of the issues that stakeholders and witnesses raised are dealt with in the bill. A few things that were raised did not make it as recommendations, so it is understandable that they are not included, but I will speak about those later. One of the positive amendments the bill brings forward is around mobile polling booths. Barriers to electoral participation are very real for people in remote and regional areas, particularly for remote First Nations communities. Currently, the NSW Electoral Commission cannot provide mobile early voting services other than for declared facilities under the Act, which are limited to hospitals, nursing homes, retirement villages and the like. The bill allows the Electoral Commissioner to deploy mobile polling booths, including at correctional centres, which is a positive move. We queried the Minister at a late stage today about the ability in the bill for a governor of a correctional centre to say that a facility is too unsafe for a mobile polling booth or centre to be deployed. That potentially needs oversight.
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties made a submission to the JSCEM inquiry into the State election and urged the committee to remove restrictions on prisoners' voting rights in the Electoral Act. The Council for Civil Liberties has been strong on that point for a long time, as have The Greens. The submission stated that doing so would support enfranchisement generally, specifically in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are particularly disadvantaged as a result of those restrictions. It also urged the committee to ensure that mobile polling that takes place in correctional facilities are properly funded so that people in custody who can vote have the opportunity to exercise their rights, including those on remand. I remember having conversations about the booklet that details candidates that is produced to be distributed to correctional facilities for those who can vote. That should be assisted by the Electoral Commission. I am not sure whether that has changed. I think Justice Action coordinated that.
Other positive changes in the bill include requiring senior party office holders to be enrolled in New South Wales, which assists the Electoral Commission in exercising its enforcement powers. I note the contributions of a couple of Independent members of this place, the Hon. Mark Latham and the Hon. Tania Mihailuk, who talked about the issues from their experience with One Nation. Transitional provisions provide registered parties with six months to apply to update the register of parties, if required, to ensure that their registered officer, deputy or secretary's enrolment address is in New South Wales. That is sufficient. The Greens support changes around the provision for the regulation of electoral material generated by artificial intelligence with the introduction of a new offence to prohibit the printing, publishing or distribution of digitally generated electoral material, unless it carries a statement to that effect. That is about portraying an event or action that did not occur. We think that is absolutely warranted in the bill. Currently, all electoral material distributed on election day in a public place must be registered with the Electoral Commissioner.
The Greens also support the introduction of a new offence to prohibit the distribution of electoral material in a public place on a day on which early voting is conducted, unless the material is registered. The requirement will only apply where the material is distributed within 100 metres of a voting centre that is being used as an early voting centre. There is a tightening of disclosure laws—which The Greens have actively campaigned on for many years—to ensure that a reportable political donation received or made during the pre-election period for a Legislative Assembly general election must be disclosed within seven days of the donation being received, down from 21 days. That is very sensible and The Greens wholeheartedly support it.
There is also a tightening of rules around postal vote applications, which we have been calling for for some time. Those changes mean that a candidate or party may only distribute an application to vote by post if it is in the form approved by the Electoral Commission. Crucially, that form must then be submitted directly to the Electoral Commissioner with no additional information or matter appearing on the application. That was a key recommendation in the Greens submission to the JSCEM inquiry. The common practice for parties and candidates that can afford it—and it is a big cost—is to encourage voters to send applications for a postal vote to the candidate's campaign address, not to the Electoral Commission. That is clearly problematic and open to various potential interference tactics. It also risks delays for the voter and is confusing. I have spoken to a number of elderly people and people who do not speak English as a second language. They think they have sent their application to the Electoral Commission but, in the past, that has not usually been the case. The Greens support those changes, as well as the change to the date of the 2027 election so that it is not on Easter Saturday.
A number of witnesses who appeared at the JSCEM inquiry into the administration of the 2023 State election also wanted to see more ambitious reform. It is worth mentioning the submission of election analyst Ben Raue, who runs the Tally Room. He urged the JSCEM and this Parliament to be a lot more ambitious. He recommended that the size of the Legislative Assembly be expanded to include at least 110 members. At some point, that discussion has to happen. He also suggested proportional representation for the Legislative Council and that the terms of members of the Legislative Council be reduced to four years, with the entire Chamber elected as a single cohort every four years. It would be interesting to see when that would start, if such a thing ever came about. They are constitutional changes, of course, as is the recommended creation of five member districts for the Legislative Assembly, elected using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.
We are a fair way off considering those ambitious reform measures, but it would be exciting to be on JSCEM when considering that type of bold reform. I do not think we will be considering it in this term of Parliament. Others argued to lower the voting age to 16. That was given much more consideration in the later JSCEM inquiry into voter participation. Unfortunately, it did not make its way into that inquiry's recommendations either. I moved amendments to that effect, and it would be wonderful to consider that. I will not say that that is most of the significant reform that we will see this year on elections and electoral funding because that is not true. We support the changes to administration funding for candidates and political parties. I thank the Government and Minister John Graham for the collegial way in which they consulted on the issue and on the other reforms in the bill. Overall, The Greens support the improvements made by the bill and commend it to the House.