The Greens say the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Voter Integrity) Bill 2021, introduced to parliament today, is more cynical Morrison Government politicking that will make our elections less democratic.
Greens deputy leader and democracy spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said:
“These laws are pure politics, designed to fix a fictional problem dreamed up in the fevered imaginations of the most extreme right wing fantasists.
“Pauline Hanson is gleefully taking credit for this bill, even though it’s exactly what the right wing reactionaries in the Morrison Government have wanted all along. The public has had a gutful of collusion between One Nation and the Morrison Government.
“The Australian Electoral Commission itself has said there is no evidence that systemic, widespread voter fraud exists in Australia and there were no there no prosecutions for multiple voting at the last election.
“Fixing this imaginary problem will create real ones. Many Australians do not have driver’s licences or know where their birth certificates are, and obtaining ID can be very difficult and expensive.
“Requiring voters to produce ID won’t make our elections fairer, it will disenfranchise thousands of voters, undermine electoral outcomes and damage public faith in our democracy.
“The PM is clearly taking his cues from Trump’s Republican Party, whose attempts to suppress the vote in many states have led to rancour and division.
“The Morrison Government is desperate. It’s deeply unpopular and flagging in the polls and an election is around the corner.
“Australians see through the government’s cynical attempt to import US-style segregationist politics and open up a new front of the culture wars to boost its fading electoral prospects.”
