Give privacy to party members
In an age of trolls, Tasmania should drop the requirement to publish names and addresses, writes Wayne Williams
TASMANIA is the only state in the Commonwealth that requires a statutory declaration to be provided to the electoral commission from each member confirming membership of a political party when that party seeks registration to contest a state election.
Tasmania is also unique in that it alone stipulates the publication of a political party’s membership list including full names and addresses in the daily papers.
In the Australian Capital Territory which uses the same Hare-Clark system as Tasmania none of these provisions is mandatory.
The statutory declaration required in Tasmania but not in other states or territories should in itself be sufficient to confirm membership without public exposure.
In the ACT as with other states and territories there is a requirement for political parties to supply their membership lists to the electoral commission of that state or territory.
These electoral commissions then contact each member to confirm membership of the party and are residing at the address provided and that the address provided agrees with the electoral roll.
No statutory declaration or publication of membership names is required.
In all other states and territory jurisdictions public disclosure is not a requirement.
In all other states and territories they are at pains to stress the privacy of all political party members. How a citizen votes in our secret ballot system is protected as one of the fundamental rights of democracy.
Why then are Tasmanians not permitted the same level of privacy and protection as other Australians when it comes to membership of a political party?
In this time of increasing vilification and threat in the political landscape, there is an understandable reluctance with members to have their personal details and political allegiance made public.
In the past Australians have enjoyed the right of free expression of political views as expected in a democracy.
Unfortunately in an era of social media trolls and diminishing freedoms of expression that right is being challenged or utterly ignored by those who view different views as a reason to hate or attack those who hold these views.
Whether it be the intolerance of the “extreme Right” or the intransigence of the “extreme Left” ordinary Australians are attacked for expressing social, political and personal views that do not meet with approval of these fanatical wings.
In the past the Democratic Labour Party has experienced violence against its members. The DLP will be seeking registration with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission in several months time.
Belonging to a party that has demonstrated its opposition to both extreme Right and extreme Left ideologies, many of our members are concerned with the notion of public exposure of their political position to the broader public, their physical wellbeing and their right to privacy.
The DLP will seek to have the requirement of public disclosure of the membership list removed from registration requirement of all Tasmanians whether they be DLP, ALP, Greens or whatever political affiliation they choose.