Articles contained at this web site: 

• Case for an Electoral Ombudsman - by Dr Amy McGrath, President 
• Queensland Electoral Fraud - by Dr Amy McGrath, President 
• HS Chapman at national party conference Qld 

MPs knew of fraud claims
Courier Mail - Chris Griffith, 10oct00

THREE serving Labor MPs, a former party president, and two former assistant state secretaries were aware of claims of electoral fraud involving party members, it was claimed yesterday.

THE 
HS CHAPMAN SOCIETY HAS:

In the Shepherdson inquiry into vote rorting yesterday:

PARTY returning officer Joan Budd said she told former state secretary Mike Kaiser two forged electoral commission white cards had been used in an attempt to enrol ALP members for a pre-selection vote in East Brisbane council ward in 1993.

KURWONGBAH MP Linda Lavarch also was named as a recipient of a letter in October 1993 from then assistant state secretary Lindesay Jones concerned about "unprecedented" electoral stacking in the ward.

MS Budd said she had told Deputy Premier Jim Elder former AWU faction member Lee Bermingham allegedly had asked Brisbane party member Ross Musgrove to put his numbers into Mundingburra for the 1996 election. She interpreted this as a request to transfer Labor members on the roll.

The Prime Minister has written to the Queensland Premier offering to introduce legislation giving the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) the power to investigate allegations of electoral rorting in the federal electorate of Fisher. 

John Howard has also asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate claims of vote-rigging in the Queensland seat of Hinkler. 

The legislation would authorise the CJC to conduct investigations into allegations of electoral fraud in the 1987 poll for the seat of Fisher, won at the time by former Labor minister Michael Lavarch. 

Ms Budd said she believed Mr Bermingham was the person responsible "because of talk I heard around".

"I tried for years to get direct evidence on Lee and I was never able to do that."

ALP faces fraud inquiry 
Australian Financial Review, September 7, 2000 

Queensland's anti-corruption watchdog, the Criminal Justice Commission, has launched a full public enquiry into widespread allegations of electoral fraud in the Labor Party. Following legal advice, the CJC appointed retired Supreme Court judge Mr Tom Shepherdson to chair the enquiry. The timing of the enquiry will be vital for the Government, which faces an election in the next nine months.

The leader of the Opposition, Mr Rob Borbidge, claimed there was a "question mark" over the legitimacy of the Government, which holds power with a one seat majority. "For a Government, this is as serious as you get" Mr Borbidge said. "The allegations (in North Queensland) are just a tip of the iceberg and this is Beattie's Titanic". Mr Shepherdson is expected to begin holding public hearings in early October.

Vote rort enquiry sought
The Sunday Mail, August 13,2000

Opposition Leader Rob Borbidge has called for a judicial inquiry into electoral rorting that led to Friday's jailing of Labor identity Karen Ehrmann. The Townsville District Court sentenced Ehrmann to nine months jail after she pleaded guilty to forging electoral enrolment forms used to stack ALP branches for pre-selection plebiscites. The court was told of allegations of "endemic" corruption. Chief Judge Patsy Wolfe said Ehrmann had made a concerted and persistent effort to interfere with the electoral system. Mr Borbidge said he could not accept, based on court allegations, that the corruption 'began and ended with one candidate".

Borbidge wants election inquiry
Sam Strutt - Australian Financial Review 14/8/00

The legitimacy of the Queensland Government has been called into question as the State Opposition demands an enquiry into the 1998 election result after the jailing of a former Labor Party candidate for electoral fraud. The Opposition Leader, Mr Rob Bordrige, said yesterday the activities that lead to the jailing of the former candidate for the north Queensland seat of Thuringowa, Karen Ehrmann, could have a bearing on the outcome of the poll.

Sydney Morning Herald Editorial October 3, 1998

The frustrating aspect for people concerned about the integrity of our voting system is that the anecdotal evidence of mistakes and rorts is invariably confirmed when these matters are investigated. A Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, chaired by the Labor MP Michael Lee, inquiring into the conduct of the 1987 election, for instance, confirmed that about 325 votes in each seat were incorrectly ruled informal and not counted. Mr Lee argued that this level of mistakes was 'dangerous' and that there was no way of knowing which way the votes would have gone. After the 1993 election, the Independent MP, Ted Mack wrote to the then Minister for Administrative Services, Senator Bob McMullan, detailing 'certain concerns' about the Electoral Commission's conduct in his electorate. One was the disappearance of 260 votes cast for Mr Mack.

Inspired a HS Chapman Society in the UK