Ms BYRNES (Cunningham) (14:58): My question is to the Minister representing the Special Minister of State. Why is it important to have rigorous, transparent and fair election processes? Is the minister aware of any examples of groups seeking special treatment outside the rules?
Ms RISHWORTH (Kingston—Minister for Social Services) (14:59): I'd like to thank the member for Cunningham for that question. Of course Australia's electoral system is the envy of the world. The Australian Electoral Commission continues to deliver elections in an independent, robust and transparent way. The AEC is in charge of nominations and managing the electoral roll, the selection of polling places and the appointment of polling officials. These are, rightly, free from interference by political parties seeking to game the system for their benefits, and are essential to maintain the confidence in the results of our elections.
Just like other electoral commissions, the New South Wales Electoral Commission is currently conducting local government elections. These include—
Opposition members interjecting—
The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will pause and cool it for a moment while we hear from the Manager of Opposition Business.
Mr Fletcher: The New South Wales Commission is not within the responsibilities of this minister. The question and the answer are out of order. The minister should be sat down.
Opposition members interjecting—
The SPEAKER: The ministers on my right will cease interjecting. The Minister for the Environment and Water will cease interjecting so I can hear from the Leader of the House.
Mr Burke: To the point of order, the final part of the question said this: 'Is the Minister aware of any examples of groups seeking special treatment outside the rules?' And I reckon she has one.
The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business on the point of order?
Mr Fletcher: What the Leader of the House has just said is no answer to the fundamental proposition that the New South Wales Electoral Commission is not within the responsibilities of this minister. The question and the answer are out of order.
The SPEAKER: The question is within order. If there was problem with the question, the time to raise that was probably at the beginning of the question.
Mr Husic interjecting—
The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Industry and Science is not helping the situation. Given the minister has outlined the responsibility of the Electoral Commission, she was asked about any other groups and about the rules of electoral cycles. I'm going to listen to what she says, but she has to remain directly relevant. She won't be able to focus on the entire part of that, but I'm sure we'll all listen carefully to her examples. The minister has the call.
Ms RISHWORTH: Of course, the AEC, along with all electoral commissions in this country, deserve to be able to go about their business independently, and that includes setting deadlines and for all parties to adhere to those deadlines. These are not surprising deadlines. I found in 2021, the New South Wales Office of Local Government published a guide clearly stating that the ordinary local government elections in New South Wales would be held in September 2024. Unfortunately, owing to the chaos and incompetence of the New South Wales Liberal Party, they were the only ones not able to get their nominations in.
I am asked about any group seeking special treatment outside the electoral rules. It might come as a surprise to the House that the Liberal Party are now blaming the independent umpire, threatening legal action against the New South Wales Electoral Commissioner for their own incompetence. This makes a mockery of our independent processes and our democracy. I'm sure that the New South Wales Liberal Party is a little disappointed that Scott Morrison is no longer prime minister, because he could have secretly appointed himself as the New South Wales Electoral Commissioner and overturned the decision. They don't always have trouble with their paperwork; I'm sure if the local government association forms looked more like visas for French au pairs, they would have got it in on time.
The SPEAKER: The minister will return to the question.
Ms RISHWORTH: Anyone looking at this chaos would have been surprised to see the Liberal Party also miss the deadline for the Logies for best comedy entertainment, because this has been a comedy of errors. Instead of blaming the independent umpire, the Liberal Party should abide by the rules, admit their chaos and not risk our democracy.
