NSW Labor has abandoned its support to adequately fund the NSW Electoral Commission, jeopardising the integrity of our democratic electoral system

Today in Parliament, Abigail gave notice of a motion condemning NSW Labor for rejecting the NSW Electoral Commission's budget bid for 2024-25. This decision compromises staffing, cybersecurity and access to technology-assisted voting systems for blind and low-vision electors to cast independent votes.

Abigail said:

I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move:

(1) That this House notes that:

the NSW Electoral Commission has for years consistently called for an increase in funding from the NSW Government in order to fulfil their most basic statutory obligations, with far less capacity for education and outreach than its counterparts in other states such as Victoria,
on 8 November 2022, the NSW Upper House unanimously passed a motion moved by Abigail Boyd MLC affirming the key role of the NSW Electoral Commission in our State’s democracy, and calling on the NSW Government to commit to fully fund the Commission in order for it to fulfil its essential functions and adequately engage with vulnerable and marginalised members of the community,
the former Coalition Government repeatedly ignored the NSW Electoral Commission’s calls for funding with the result being a failure to secure an adequate technology assisted voting system for blind and low vision electors to cast an independent and verifiable vote in the 2023 State election or the 2024 Local Government election,
while in opposition, the NSW Labor party stood with the Greens in calling for more adequate funding, but since forming government has now followed in the footsteps of the former Coalition Government in refusing to increase the Commission’s funding,
according to the NSW Electoral Commissioner in a Budget Estimates hearing on 28 August 2024, had Labor accepted the NSW Electoral Commission’s budget bid presented to them in February ahead of the 2024-25 Budget, the Commission could have secured technology assisted voting for the 2027 State election. The Commissioner also indicated that the lack of funding has produced potential risks in relation to cybersecurity protections ahead of the 2027 State election,
yet again, because of Labor’s negligence, blind and low-vision voters will have no option to cast an independent and verifiable vote in the 2027 State election, forced to resort to using operator-assisted telephone voting which is neither independent nor verifiable and strips these voters of a fundamental democratic right, and
the NSW Electoral Commission is a core institution of democracy in our state, and without significant investment from Government it will continue to be incapacitated, which will create serious risks for ensuring the integrity of our democratic electoral process.

(2) That this House:

condemns the failure and neglect of the NSW Labor Government in refusing to accept the NSW Electoral Commission’s budget bid in the 2024-25 Budget process, and
calls on the NSW Government to immediately provide the Commission with an urgent uplift in funding to enable it to properly carry out its statutory functions, avoid staffing cuts and modernise digital systems for all voters as a matter of urgency.

17 September 2024

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has the right to share in the wellbeing of our country.

But at the moment the essentials so many of us need – a place to call home, food on the table, and everyday essentials like electricity, internet, medicine and water – are simply out of reach.

Instead of supporting us, our government is choosing to prop up huge corporations with massive subsidies, and to give away our collective wealth through record tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to live paycheck to paycheck or trapped in the dehumanising bureaucracy of our existing welfare system.

Now, in the midst of a pandemic, and following quickly on the heels of the bushfire crisis, more of us than ever before are experiencing what it’s like to lose our jobs, be without a home, or worry about where the food for our next meal will come from.

It’s time for us to choose to prioritise the wellbeing of everyone.

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It’s the amount you’re owed simply for being a participant in our society.

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It means you will always have what you need to live a good life, no matter what.

The Universal Wellbeing Payment is for everyone. Help us make it happen.

For more information, head to universalwellbeingpayment.com.au

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NSW Labor has abandoned its support to adequately fund the NSW Electoral Commission, jeopardising the integrity of our democratic electoral system

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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