Groups representing Indigenous Australians have launched an eleventh-hour lobbying effort to convince key crossbench senators to scupper the government’s controversial voter identification bill.
The groups, which include the Northern Land Council and Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the NT (APONT), say the bill, which if passed would require voters to bring ID to the polling booth, is "discriminatory" and would disproportionately affect Indigenous voters in remote communities.
The key to passing the legislation lies with the Senate crossbench, with the bill set to go before the upper house when parliament resumes next week.
APONT's Theresa Roe said the legislation would create barriers to the ballot box for First Nations people, who are less likely to have formal identification or even permanent addresses compared to the general population.
“Many of our people don't have licenses and identification … so if the government introduced this voter ID [law], many of our people might not turn up to vote,” she said.
“We have low numbers, now we're trying to increase that, but it's going to have a serious impact on our people who are already underrepresented on the electoral roll.”
If the law is passed, instead of asking people to provide their name and address, voters would need to present ID, such as a driver’s licence, passport, Medicare card, or utility bill.
If people are unable to provide that, they could ask another voter to vouch for them or cast a declaration vote.
The government says the new law is designed to prevent voter fraud, and more safeguards are needed to protect against people voting multiple times.
“It’s not an Earth-shattering proposal, that when you go to vote that you should be able to say you are who you are and provide some form of identification to support that. That’s an important protection for our democracy,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last month.
However at the last election, according to the Australian Electoral Commission, only 2,102 people were marked off the role more than once, from around 15 million voters.
Of those, 24 were investigated by police and there were no prosecutions.
Labor and the Greens are fiercely opposed to the bill, saying it’s “a solution looking for a problem” and accusing the government of voter suppression and causing disenfranchisement among Indigenous Australians, the homeless and the elderly.
There has also been concern the legislation from voting in higher numbers.
The government has already secured the support of One Nation's Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, and would just need one more vote from the Senate crossbench to push the bill through.
Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie is still undecided on her position, and so is Centre Alliance Senator Stirling Griff.
“There are very few integrity problems associated with Australians when they go to vote, but there are far more integrity issues associated with our system of politics. And yet the government somehow has prioritised this piece of legislation over a federal ICAC,” Senator Patrick said, referring to mounting calls for a national anti-corruption watchdog.
Ms Roe has been to visit Senator Griff at his office in South Australia, and said the meeting was was “constructive”.
“The main message we wanted to present to Senator Sterling Griff is that we've got really serious concerns in the Northern Territory,” she said.
“The voter ID bill is going to have severe impact, particularly for remote communities of the Northern Territory, where three quarters of our population live.”
Wayne Kurnorth, a First Nations union organiser for United Workers Union, also attended the meeting with Senator Griff, and hopes the meeting might have helped turn his support.
“He's also got concerns himself, around the process around the Electoral Commission, and how they operate through remote regions of Australia during a federal election,” he said.
“Senator Griff agreed with us, resourcing is a big issue. In the Australian Electoral Commission there used to be 23 people in an Indigenous unit that used to serve as remote communities in the Northern Territory. Now that's down to three. We don't have enough people going out there providing education to people out on communities and enrolling people.”
There is a possibility the bill could be pushed through the parliament before Christmas in time for a federal election, which needs to happen by May.
But the government could face a roadblock from senators within its own ranks.
South Australian Senator Alex Antic and Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick have publicly stated they will withhold their votes on all government legislation, because they don’t agree with vaccine mandates.
A Senate inquiry into the bill could also slow things down.
Senator Patrick said if senators did call for an inquiry, it’s something he would agree to.
“I would support it, because I think it gives the opportunity for both sides to present their views, and to draw out any unintended consequences,” he said.
