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Hansard

Thursday, 28th October 2021

Voter Suppression

Statements by Members

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (13:56): As one of the only world leaders who refused to condemn the invasion of the US Capitol, it's only fitting that this Prime Minister is channelling a move straight out of the Trump playbook. He doesn't want donor ID for Christian Porter but he wants voter ID for vulnerable Australians. He talks about cracking down on voter fraud, something the AEC says barely exists and something that saw zero prosecutions from the last election—not one! This is a blatant attempt at Trump style voter suppression—an attempt to divide us by a great divider. This is about making voting harder.

We should be proud of our democracy that we call the Australian ballot. Queues will stretch around the block and many vulnerable Australians will lose their democratic voice. There are 140,000 people waiting to get their citizenship who will be excluded from voting. The fact is: the Prime Minister stalled on an Indigenous voice to parliament, and now he wants to take away their voice at the ballot box. This is a cynical move to minimise the number of Indigenous Australians who get to vote. Our electoral system is proudly Australian. This is ugly, divisive legislation. And I urge Australians to use the ballot box to tell this divisive man his time is up.

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Parliament House Office

Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6277 7700

Phone: (02) 9564 3588
Fax: (02) 9564 1734
Email: A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our offices stand and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge the sorrow of the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We also recognise the resilience, strength and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Authorised by Anthony Albanese, ALP, Canberra.