Mr McGinty repeats no fraud, and proving identity would deter enrolments

Mr J Massam
46 Cobine Way
GREENWOOD WA 6024

Dear Mr Massam

I refer to your further letter of 8 September 2001 regarding electoral fraud.

I stand by the statement in my letter of 4 September 2001 that there has been no evidence of widespread fraud in electoral enrolment in Australia.

You quoted several paragraphs of the Executive Summary of the Shepherdson Inquiry Report. If you read further to the section headed What the inquiry revealed in general, you will see the following:

'The information gathered during the Inquiry clearly established that the practice of making consensual false enrolments to bolster the chances of specific candidates in preselections was regarded by some Party members as a legitimate campaign tactic. No evidence, however, was revealed indicating that the tactic had been generally used to influence the outcome of public elections. Where it was found to have been used in public elections, the practice appeared to be opportunistic or related to the family circumstances of particular candidates rather than systemic or widespread.'

I remain of the view that the requirement for first time enrollees to provide proof of identity and the requirement for all people enrolling or changing enrolment details to obtain the signature of a qualified witness will be a deterrent to enrolment.

Yours sincerely

JIM McGINTY MLA
ATTORNEY GENERAL
MINISTER FOR ELECTORAL AFFAIRS

25 SEP 2001

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