Election inquiry rejected

Kingborough Chronicle | 9 November 2021  

An Upper House proposal for a joint committee inquiry into the conduct of Tasmania’s 2021 State and Legislative Council elections was rejected by a vote in Tasmania’s House of Assembly on October 27.

The outcome has been criticised by the Independent Member for Nelson, Meg Webb MLC, Independent Member for Clark, Kristie Johnston MP and Greens Member for Clark, Cassy O’Connor MP.

Speaking in Parliament on October 27, Cassy O’Connor MP said the incumbent Liberal Government was resisting a joint select committee “because the Government will not have control of that joint select committee”.

“Given the topic that this select committee would be examining, it is right that it be non-partisan and that no party has the numbers on this select committee,” said Cassy O’Connor MP.

“A two-year probe into funding promised during the 2018 Tasmanian election was dropped by the State’s integrity watchdog in April after a legal argument with the Liberal Party over the inquiry’s direction.”

Kristie Johnston MP said the Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) is “hamstrung” by a lack of powers, hence it is unable to enforce compliance.

“Tasmania has the weakest integrity laws in the country”, noted Kristie Johnston MP.

“We now have a Tasmanian Electoral Commission report which finds that successive Tasmanian governments may have carried out, and I use the Commission’s words, “indirect electoral bribery” through the distribution of grants at election time.”

Independent Member for Nelson, Meg Webb MLC said parliamentary review of elections is standard practice in other jurisdictions, and the rejection of the inquiry is evidence of “a concerted effort to marginalise Parliament’s scrutiny role”.

“The Federal Parliament and other interstate parliaments which hold routine post-election parliamentary oversight inquiries also have their own equivalent electoral commissions who participate as witnesses before those parliamentary committees,” said Meg Webb MLC.

On June 29, independent and Labor MLCs voted in support of Ms Webb’s motion to establish a joint select committee into the conduct of the 2021 State and Legislative Council elections, while three  Liberal MLCs voted against the motion.

“We are seeing a disturbing pattern emerge where the Government repeatedly breaches established parliamentary practice in order to avoid routine public scrutiny”, said Meg Webb MLC.

“There is an established convention when either the House of Assembly or Legislative Council requests the other joins them to conduct a joint house committee inquiry, it is agreed to.

“Instead, for the second time in less than 18 months, the Gutwein Liberal Government has refused to work cooperatively with the Upper House when faced with such a request.”

Ms Webb described as “disingenuous and insulting” the State Government’s claim a parliamentary review of the 2021 elections would either duplicate or undermine the TEC.

“The Government’s attempt to hide behind the TEC is so spurious, those spouting it should be cringing with embarrassment.

“The more the Premier ducks and weaves in his attempts to prevent the Parliament from doing its job on behalf of the community, the more he looks like he has something to hide.

Read or watch Meg’s JSC Motion speech

See more of Meg’s recent media.