The Coalition has rejected claims by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, that the former government attempted to suppress voting in the Northern Territory.
Returning from Indonesia via Darwin on Wednesday, Albanese launched a broadside at the Morrison government for copying tactics “straight out of the right-wing Republican playbook”.
We’ve checked the basis for the claim the Coalition was to blame for a turnout of just two-thirds in the seat of Lingiari which includes Alice Springs and remote parts of the NT.
What was the claim?
Asked about low voter turnout in new Labor MP Marion Scrymgour’s seat, Albanese said:
It’s not rocket science to know what happened here. They ripped resources out of the electoral commission. There was a deliberate policy of the former government to restrict people voting in the territory. They tried to abolish the seat and we fought very hard to get two seats in the territory. They restricted the numbers of people who were working for the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to get people on the roll.
It was an outrage what occurred and then there was a lack of resources to enable people to vote. We have one vote, one value in this country. It’s an important principle of our democracy and the fact that 66% of people voted, it means that one in three people in the electorate of Lingiari didn’t get to vote. That was a part of the former government’s design. It wasn’t by accident and they should be held to account for it.”
Albanese promised to review enrolment in conjunction with the Australian Electoral Commission.
Did the Coalition try to abolish a seat?
In July 2020, the AEC determined that, based on population, the Northern Territory would only be entitled to one seat at the next election. With a population of 247,280, the NT had almost exactly 1% of the Australian population, entitling it to one seat in the House of Representatives.
Labor’s Don Farrell and Malarndirri McCarthy put up a private senator’s bill to prevent the NT losing its second seat. Some within the government also opposed the change, including NT Country Liberal Senator Sam McMahon, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, and then deputy prime minister Michael McCormack.
The government referred the bill to the joint standing committee on electoral matters, which recommended that both territories be given a minimum of two MPs. A government bill passed both houses in December 2020.
Kevin Bonham, a psephologist concluded the claim the government attempted to abolish the seat was “not true” because it “fairly quickly agreed with Labor’s push to reinstate it”.
"They tried to abolish the seat" is not true. An NT seat was to be automatically abolished under legislation because NT fell below entitlement. The previous government fairly quickly agreed with Labor's push to reinstate it. Had the government done nothing it would have gone. https://t.co/xIzuBLP2P5
— Kevin Bonham (@kevinbonham) June 8, 2022
Did they restrict voting?
In October 2021, the Coalition introduced a bill to require the electoral commission to ask voters for identification.
Although it contained some safeguards, such as allowing another enrolled voter with ID to attest to their identity or the voter to cast a declaration vote, the bill was criticised for its likely negative effect on turnout and Indigenous participation.
In December, Labor did a deal with the Coalition to increase transparency around charities and their donors in return for the government dropping the proposed voter ID laws.
Albanese’s reference to “restricting people voting in the territory” was to this bill which the Coalition never repudiated. It was just put on the backburner because it didn’t have Senate support to pass before the 2022 election.
What about turnout and enrolment?
Albanese’s claim about resources being “ripped” out of the Australian Electoral Commission and enrolment staff cuts appears to be a reference to an AEC budget decision made in 2017 to reduce staff in its NT office. Since then most NT enrolment services have been run out of Queensland.
In October, the Coalition gave an extra $9.4m over four years to support the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Australian elections.
According to the AEC, Indigenous enrolment has increased nationally from 74.7% in 2017 to 79.3% in 2021.
However, there are still an estimated 112,057 Indigenous people not enrolled of a national population of 540,498.
The NT lags behind with an Indigenous enrolment rate of 69.6% and 16,059 Indigenous people unenrolled.
Turnout in Lingiari is down from 73.70% in 2016, to 72.85% in 2019, to 66.8% in 2022 (although this may increase slightly as final declaration votes are counted).
As Bonham has noted, turnout (also down nationally since 2019) may be moving in the opposite direction to enrolment as a higher number of less-engaged voters are on the rolls, but not showing up to vote.
2019 turnout was 91.89% (up almost 1% on 2016). 2022 is currently on 89.51; there are not enough dec votes currently showing uncounted to quite get it to 90%. Turnouts in recent elections have been lower in part because of improved enrolment capturing less engaged voters.
— Kevin Bonham (@kevinbonham) June 9, 2022
What does the AEC say?
An AEC spokesperson told Guardian Australia:
We’re very pleased with that recent growth in the roll but of course, like everyone else, are not satisfied and will be working hard to continue to close the gap to the broader roll. Likewise we’ve worked really hard to conduct remote mobile polling – an incredibly challenging, large scale and complex logistical operation. The turnout rate in Lingiari does look like it will be slightly lower than 2019 though and that is disappointing.
As with all aspects of the election, we’ll be reviewing NT and Indigenous participation very closely and applying additional efforts to encourage democratic engagement. We very much look forward to helping to drive participation rates up higher moving towards future election events.”
What does the Coalition say?
The shadow special minister of state, Jane Hume, labelled Albanese’s comments “either unforgivably ignorant, woefully ill-informed or a blatant lie”.
Last year the Coalition delivered an additional $9.4m to the AEC to expand successful programs for additional enrolment and participation the NT. This comment is either unforgivably ignorant, woefully ill-informed, or a blatant lie. Which one @AlboMP? https://t.co/2XfTgtmtZs https://t.co/FLHF3I8Kp1
— Jane Hume (@SenatorHume) June 8, 2022
Hume noted the lift in the Indigenous enrolment rate since 2017 accusing Labor of “a low rent ignorant swipe at the Coalition”.
“It’s is also a slight on the integrity of the AEC and an insult to the communities of the Northern Territory.”
Labor were approached for comment.
Verdict
While some criticism of the Coalition’s attempted voter ID bill is justified, Albanese’s comments fly in the face of rising Indigenous enrolment rates and bipartisan support to restore the NT’s two lower house seats.
While its true voter turnout is falling in Lingiari, this may be linked to higher enrolment. The independent AEC will review Indigenous participation in the election.
