i935

ESTERN AUSTRALIA

REPORTof the

Royal Commissionon the

Electoral Act 1907 1921

and other relative matters

Presented to both Houseof Parliament by His Excellency s Command

FOURTH SESSION OF THE FIFTEENTH PARLIAMENT

PERTHBY AUTHORITY FRED WM SIMPSON GOVERNMENT PRINTER

1935

NO 6APPROX fA E COST OF PAPER

Prmtmg 400 copies 6Se 15 35

HOYAL COl 1JStI01V ESTERN AuSTIALIA t By His Excellency Sir James Mitdell

TO WIl j KC M G Lieutenant Governor in ardJAMES l LJ CHELL over th State of Vestern AUjtraliaLieutenant GO rllor and its Depf1ndencies in the CommonL S vealth of Australia

EORGE THE FIFTH by thl Grace of Go l of GfcotBritain and Ireland alld the Bfdish Dominions beyond the Seas King Defender of the Faith EI LJI1 O

of IndiaOlEETlKG

To the Honourable Charles Furqulurson Baxter M L Ctlie Honoumble Tames Comell M LC tile Honomable Gilbet Praser M LC Albert 11edves GcogeHawke Esquire M LA the Honouable Uharles

Geoge Latham M LA Robet R03s McDonaldEsquil c LLB M IJ A the Ionourable HubertStanley WybOTll Parker DS O V D M LC theHOllOUlable AlexandeThomson M LC the HonoUlable Jolin CDllings Willcock M LA and rankJoseph Scott Wise Esquire M LA

I the said Lieutenant Governor acting vith the adviceand eonsent of the 1Jxecutive Council do hereby appointyon Charles Faquharsoll Baxter J a1ll3S Cornell GilbetFraser Albet Redves George Hawke Charles GeorgLatham Robert Ross McDonald Hubert Stanley Wyborn

Paker Alexander Thomson John C lJings iVillcock andPrank Joseph Scott Wise to be a Royn1 Commission to

1 Inquire into and eOllsider the provisions of TheElectoral Act 1907 1921 and the provisions of TheConstitution Acts Amendment Act 1899 dealing withelectoral matters yith tIle periodical election of mem

hers of the Legislatiyc Conncil an l with the periodicalgenel l eleetion of members of the Legislatiye Assemblyand to make allY l ecommelldations windl the Commissioltbink adyisable for the amendment of the laws eontainel

theein or appertainillg theretoConsider the advisability 01 otherwise of having t

joint roll 01 rolls for both Commonwealth and State 1 1lj uilultlry C CtiOllS and to make uy ll collJmen latioJlsin eonlleltioll thelewith whieh tiil C JllIlnissiOll tllinklit

And I her by appoint you the said John CollingViIleJek to be chairlllan of thc said CommissionAnd r dcehnc tlrat uu skill by virtUe of this COlllmis ion be a Hoya C lmission within The Royal C mInissionel Po vers ttl 1902 13 reprinterl in thtappendix to the Sessional Volume of tJje Statutes for the

year 1928 Hnd that yon slwll Iw e the powers of a RoyalCommission or the Chairman thereof under that Act

And I hereby r equest you as SOon as reasonably maybe to report to me in writing the result of this yourCommission

Gi en under my hand and the Public Seal of thesaid State at Perth this st day of J annay1935

By His Excellency Connuan l

Sgd P COLLIERPremier

GOD SAVE lHE KING

From the CouncilThe HOll J CornellThe lIon C F BaxterThe Hon G FraserThe Hon H S IV Pm b r

The non A Thomson

with lo er to eall for papers and sit on days oyerwhich

Ftom the AssemblyThe Hon J C WillcockThe Hon C G LathamThe HOIl F J S Wise

R G Hawke EsqH n McDonald Esq

the Houses might stand adjourned

Royal Commission on the Electoral Act I907 I92JI and other

rdativie matters

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS

To His EJ i iIf l Sir Jumes ilU chell K C Jl1G

Liclf erllln GOlCnlOr ill ond orer the Stote uf TVesern Alls Falio alld its Jeprnre1eie8 in tile Cr1711onu ealth of Alfstralia

In I r lLJ ASE Y01 R EXCELLEJCY

IVe lll e the honour to Teport to our Excellency the result of our lllqUlnes into the matters

entrust to us by The Royal Commission dated the 31st day of January 1935

PRELIMIXARY

The memhers of this Commission were originally appointed as the Tesult of motions moved and

passel in both Hon es that is to say ill the Assembly on the 13th December 1934 and in the Council

on the 21st day of December HJ34 for the appointment of a Joint Select Committee consisting of five

members from both Houses to eOIIsider and recommend amendments to the Electoral Act 1907 1921

11l1d amendlllellb thereto

Your Commissioners were appointed members of the Commission as follows

On the 22nd December 1934 your Commissioners then members of the Joint Select Committee

elected the Minister for Justice the Hon J C IVillcoek ML A as chairman of the Joint CommitteeamI after discussing its proposed wOTk adjourned further proeecdings sine clie

Subsequently this SelelCommittee merged into the Royal Commission appointed by your Excel

lency on the 31st January 1935

The lloyal Commission directed us to inquire into amI report upona The pro isions of the Elertoral Ad 1907 1921 and the provisions of the Constitution

Acts Amendment Act 1899 dealing with e1ector 11 matters with the periodical election

of members of the Legislative Couneil and with the peTiodical general election of mem

bers of the Legislatiye Assembly and

h The advisability or otherwise of having a joint roll or rolls for both Commonwealth and

State parliamentary elections

and to m ke any reeo1l111endations whieh the Commission thought advisable for the amendment of thelall ontained therein or appertaining thereto

The statute law dealing with parliamentary eleetions is eontained in the two Acts the subjectlI1atter of our inquiry alld also in the Legislative Assembly Duration Aet 1919 and the Eleetoral Dislnets et 1923

OriginaJly the Constitution Act 1889 eontained provisions relating to the qualification of electorsarH the Constitution Acts Amendment Ad of 1899 eontained similar prOVIsions These prOVISIonsi lntr hoth to the qmllification of eleetors for the rJegislative Council and for the LegislatiYe AssemblyThe Eledolal Ad of lJ07 whilst remoying the lIovisions of the Constitution Ads Amendment Act

relating to the qualification of electors fOT the Legislative Assembly and re enacting other provisions inhel thereof Iid not deal with the same question in regard to the qualification of electors fOT the Legisatl e Counil and to day the Jaws relating to the qualifieation of electors for the Council are to be foundill thl COlstitution Ads A ll1llJrlment Ad 1899

The lositiol which has heen created is somewhat anomalous in re enaeting certain disqualificain eh tion to eledors for the Legislative Assembly the Electoral Act of 1904 made slight differencesthe provisions as they existed in the Constitution Acts Amendment Act And the same disqualifi

hOls

fro 111

IV

cations were later re enacted in the Electoral Act 1907 sec 18 In the original Act of 1899 these qualifications were the same for the Assembly as for the Council See sees 17 and 28 It would appearthat it was intended to repeal section 17 of the Constitutioll Acts Amendment Act 1809 when theElectoral Act 1907 was passed but this was not done It is desirable that this subjeet should be deill1with in one or other of the Acts but not in both

In the opinion of the Crown Solicitor the present E ectoral Ad is a fairly well set out measulfand after an exhaustive examination of its details your Commissioners ha e decided to make certain lCcommendations for its amendment in regard to matters of principle In going through the Act certaindrafting amendments have also been suggested and attention will be called to these as occasion warranh

THE INQUIRYThe sittings of the Commission in the course of its inqUlries under the Ro al Commission com

menced at Parliament House Perth on the 7th day of February 1933

The Commission examined three witnesses namely Mr H R Gordon Chief Electoral OfficerState and Mr R Bandy the Commonwealth Electoral Officer for IVestern Australia who gave tech

nical evidence regarding the electoral laws and the Crown Solicitor OUr A A Wolff on certain legalaspects of the matters dealt with by the Commission

In the appendix of this report will be found a draft Bill to amend and consolidate the law dealingwith parliamentary elections this Bill repeals the Electoral Act 1907 1934

This Bill is designed to give effect to the recommendations of your Commissioners In the Bill a

complete overhaul of the Electoral Act 1907 1934 has been made with the object of removing incongruencies which have crept in over a number of years and the recommendations of your Commissioners as

set out in this report have been embodied

The chief recommendations of your Commissioners may be summarised under the followingheads

I ELECTORAL LAWS

a Qualification of electors Amendment of the property qualification for Council elections

b Amendment of the laws dealing with the disqualification of half castes and indigent persons

c Enrolment

Providing for immediate registration of claims

Providing for the heading of appeals by magistrates III the local court

Amending the law in regard to claims entrusted by electors to other persons for forwarding to the registrar l i 1tJL lt nr f l jljl J

d Repealing the present laws relating to voting by post and re enacting new provisions relatingto voting in absence

e Machinery for holding an election

f Electoral offences

g Limitation of electoral expenses

h Compulsory voting

Dealing with each head in turn your Commissioners make the following recommendationsa That section 13 of the Constitution Ads Amendment Act 1899 as amended by Act No

40 of 1934 and section 16 of the said Act be repealed and in lieu of the existing property qualificationtherein enacted other provisions be inserted with a view to bring ing the Council qualification down to abasis more in conformity with that which was intended by the framers of the Constitution A cts Amendment Act 1899 and that such provisions be transferred to the Electoral Bill

The amendment of the law will be found in thp draft Bill See clause 18 1

In justification of this amendment it is pointed out that in reecnt times a good deal of confusionhas arisen in deciding who is and who is not a householder within the meaning of the householder qualification clause in section 15 of the existing Act

Many people to day occupy flats which would not at the time of the passing of the ConstitutiollActs Amendment Act have been considered as hou cs but at the same time there is no reason why theyshould not come within this category if in fact they are occupied as a lomestie establishment by a tenant and his family provided that substantial domin ion is exercised by the tenant over the premies

Then again at the present day many persons have to be enrolled by reason of the occupancy ofrateable premises and it is possible as the Act is wo ded at present to have on the Council roll the actualtenant of property whose name is on the ratepayers roll together with the holder of the lease of thesame premises The right to enrolment on the Council roll by reason of being on the ratepayers roll isabsolute and the Chief Electoral Officer finds himself unable to go hehind the ratepa ers roll andexamine the position as to whether the person on the ratepayers roll is legally entitled to be there or not

v

Th present state of the law makes it possible for two persons one to have the ownership ofe

lied the legal estate and the other to have the ownership of what is caller1 thl equitahll estatfn hat

tc

n t1JP roll Take for instance the case of a Pl1 OlJ who is buying a propert under a rontrart

to In that rase the owner of the legal estate thnt IS to say the vendor ma rlmm to he regIsteredof sa Ie IInll ser mav rlaim to he registered so that we haYe two votes in lf spprt of the samp propprtand t Ie pI

The position ran he a ail1 ll1ultipli d indefinitel Supposing thot the I reha pr of land is a mar

an tlwn she ma claIm as the eqUltahle freeholder hpr hushand may clallll as tIlE honsellOlder lIldrJed I om

the vendor may claim as the legal owner

Then again the whole scheme of the present sertion lends itself to abuse Leases ran he created and

10110 as thev are leases there is nobody to say whether they are executed hona fide 01 notso

Again it is possible to multiply votes by reason of section 16 which provides that where premises

are jointly owned up to four votes may be allowed in respect of the jointl owned premises Some con

eption will therefore be gained of the number of votes it is possible to have in respect of suhstantially

the same property See clause 18 3 of the Bill

In addition to this one elector may have a vote for each of several prOVll1ces

Your Commissioners were divided however 011 the question as to whether it is desirable to laydown a principle of an elector being enrolled for more than one province

b Amendment of the laws dealing with disqualification of half castes and indigent persons

See seetion 18 of the Electoral A lt 1907 1921 sertion 17 of the Constitution Ads Amendment Act

899 and clause 20 of the draft bill

i The recommendation of your Commissioners under this head is that lalf castes who arc

able to show that they are fit and proper persons to exereise the franchise should be

given a vote and

ii That the present disqualification which exists in relation to persons who are in reeeiptof assistance from the State or from any charitable institution should be abolished

The proposed law relating to half castes ami their right to exercise the fmnchise is substain

tiallv that of the Commonwealth The Commonwealth Electoral authorities procee led on the basis of

an pinion which was given many years ago by the then Solieitor General Sir Robert Garran which

is to the effect that half castes are not aboriginal natives within the meaning of section 127 of the Constitution and that therefore half castes are not disqnalified and that all persons in whom aboriginalblood predominates are disqualified This opinion was supported by the then Attorney General Sir

Isaac Isaacs whose comment thereon was this is reasonable and should be followed

The disqualification appearing in section 18 of the Act in regard tD persons who are dependentupon relief from the State or from any charitabre institution subsidised by the State is not in accord

with modern practicec Enrolment

Although provision is made for eompulsory enrolment under the present law this does not

appear to have been carried out and your Commisioners recommend that the prOV1S OnS of the law

relating to compulsory enrolment which have beell repeated in the bill in the appendix be put intooperation See clause 40 of the biF

That instead of the present provision providing for claims to lie in the oftice of the registrarfor 14 days before they can b registered that claims be immediately registered subjeet however to thenght of any party interested to appeal in the case of rejeetion of a daim

It was found in practice that under the pres i1t law the provision for maturation of claims provedrumbersome and it is not in accordance with modern practice as obserYed in other jurisidictions Jartirularly hy the Comlllonwealth and other States in the Commonwealth

At present the law pro ides tbat rolls for a district Illay be kept in separate JaJts for separateportIons of a listriet and this ha bnn found very convenient in practice here distri ts ale large or thelumher of electors is great

An amendment has been embodi d in the proposed hill in the appendix whieh ill extend theseprovisions to l o ince rolls and it is thought tbat it will afford the same measnre of eO 1Venience as hasbeen experienced in the case of suh di trict rolls See clause 21 of the bill

The definition of magistrate has heen wide ledso as to permit of magistrates of a loeal cuurtto hear appeals sitting in that cOlrt

abIn the past your Commissioners are of opinion that ti1 re has been great laxit anfI in some eases

Use On the part of some persons entrustfd hy eleetors WIth clann cards for forwarding tf tholeglstrar

In order to put a stop to this evil and provid a check on persons 0 entruste l it has wen made

olhhgatory to give a receipt to the elaimant and to forward the e1aiJll forthwith to tbe reg istralSeet aUSe 49 of the bill

I

Vl

d Voting by post and voting in absenceThat tLe I xjsting law in r2 1 to postal voting Jw J1 Jc lle and ill Jlal t tblreof 11IW jJrOVlJIJIJIw ill l l ted

i To Jlo idc th lt all Hltes ast other than Ierson l1ly It the pull Ill lodged with a retJ1 lJinof1er or the Chicf Eleltoral nfTkerii tlwt a sueh I ob s he put Oll special formto he Jro rlerl for the jJurposeiii that Jwfore otin2 pllJpr caD he obtained applieation has to be made in the prescihedmanner to the Chief Eleetoral Of1cer or a rcgistrar ho will generay be the registr 11of tJ1district in which the eledor desires to ote or if it is impracticable to approllehtlwt registrar then to some other registraril To JlOyide for oting in ahsencr

The nnlllhel of fraur1s which were committed in a r llt electiun ampl l justif s thi all ndll1lltof tlw law The aJlielldmellt in ib constrnctioll differs n ry little fmlll the la pertaining to aIlsenyoting in the Commonwealth and i similar to the las in the other StatesFncler this heading provision has been made for what might be termed a standing registration ofapplication in tile ease of an 8ledor who li e su h a distance from the llsual polling p ace that it iimpractirablc or inconyenient for him to attellll an1 yote in th usual manner

Provision has beln wade for I oting at a polling place ontside the pro ince or cli Ljct for whiehan e1eetor is enrolled provided he is Jot less than seven 1IJiles nway from s 1 h prOl ince or distTid atany timc on polling day

See seetions S9 to 98 of the nectoral Ad 1907 1021 and eJauses 7G to 83 of the draft bille MachineTy for holding an election

Subsedion 2 of section 8 of the Constitution Ads unendment Ad is too rigid in its requirement of the return of a writ on or before the 21st May This has been fonnd incoilenient in practiceiJeeallsP the Sll e provisions in the Constitution Ads Amendment Act provide that the writ shall beissued before the 10th Apri precer ingIt is thought that in the case of the far distant provinces such as the North Province greaterelasticity shaull be given by providing for the issue of the writ at an earlier date al d III any case nosufficient time appears to be allO ed in the case of other pronnces

Your COlllmis ioners recommend that in the ease of the orth Province or in the case of any otherprovince notinel by the Minister in the Gazette the writ shall be issued before the 20th February alJ 1in other cases bfmc tile 22nd lIarch preceding the vacamSee clause 61

fElectoral offencesThat sectioll 181 of the Eledoral Act 1907 1D21 subsectiollS 4 G and 7 whieh deal with offenceof interfering with an eIeetor in the vicinity of a polling booth with soliciting the vote of an elector onpolling day and with it candidate attending a meeting of eleetors on polling day be amendedThese several offences are designated as undue influence in the section under considerationwhereas they belong more appropriately to the head ng of illegal practices and are so treated in otherjurisdictions See clause 105 of the draft Bill

It is considered that the offences enumerated in the subsediolJS mentioned aboye do not warralltthe severe penaltit s provided for offences under that se ion viz a penalty not exceeding f2OO or imprisonment not exceeding one year with a further penalty of dis jlHllification for a period of 2 years frollbeing a membei of either House

Tha t sllbeetion 5 of section 181 of the Eleetoral Act 1907 21 vhich deals with the publication of dpfamRtory matter eoncerning a candidate Le lll1eJl ed so as to make it n defence for the persallharged to prove that he had reasonable grounds for belie ing and did in fact beJieve the defamatorymattpl to be tme and pnn ide l further that the person eharged should have the right to trial by jnrySee clanse Hj of the draft Bill

The fOJlller r olllmendaioll is based Oil the provisions of tlle Commollwealth Eleetoral ActliJ1SZ section un

III regard to the latter it is considered that in view of the oerious conseqllellees whirh are cntailed011 eonvidiOIl for an uffence of this nature the defendant should not lJe left entirely in the hands of amagistrate unless he w desires

g Limitaticn of electoral expensesThat provision be made by wa of amendmcnt to the echtmg L1w that where ecpenses are incurred juintly h v 1 TOnp of eandidates tbat a fail allll reasonable portion of the expense should beaoeaterI to p 11 1 l lIdidnte for the purpose of aseertaining the expense paid awl incnrrerl by eaeh candidate in olllledion ith the eledion Set sel tions 172 to 17li uf the EJectond Act 1007 21 ancdal1se 153 of the draft Bill

Department of the Interior

Chief Electoral Office for the CommonwealthCan berra F C T

15th llarch 1935

vii

No prnVlSlOn xists ill tllpresent law for enabling eandi lates who have incurrerl expenses joinllto haw th xpcnditm e alloeated amongst them in faipruportions and this amendnwnt is designed to

tarry ont this very necessan amendment of the law

hi Compulsory votingYour Commissioners eonsider it ad isable thnt provj ioll should be made for eOIl1 llllsory voting

at lar iamentar eJeetions hut this hO pver has not lwen ma le in the draft Bi l

1I JOH T HOLLS

On this qnestion ouCommissioners have be Lore them th p idenee of Mr H R Gordon ChiefEledoral Ofiieel IOthe State and JUl R Bandy the ollllllonwealtl1 Eleeloral Oflieer fOl th State of

estern Australia

After hearing evidenee it was decided to ask the Hon the Premier to communicate with the

Prime 11inister of the Commonwealth with a view to seeing I hether the Commonwealth would be agreeable to the State of IVestern Australia having the preparation of joint rolls if it were fonnd that a schemefor the keeping of joint rolJs for the purpose of CClmlllollwealth and State parliamentary eleetions nlS

jllltetieahJe

A coml1lUnication was sent on the lst March 1 JlJ by the HOll tlw Premicr tu the Prinw JIin

istcr of the COllJlllonwealth and 311 answer was ren jyed iJom the Prime Minister as follows

COlllmollvealth of Al1stralia

Prime MinisterCanberra F C T

12th April 1935neal Sil

jth referellce to yom lettel of 1st Man h 011 the question of the IHPparntion of joint dect01H1 rolls for both COllllllonwealth and State I forwa1l for yom information opy of a report by

the COllJlnonwealth Chief Eleetoral Hiker on the matter

I might add thRt the view of Mr TU1llC r that the Commonwealth could Oil enter into an

alTllllgement for joint Commonwealth and State electorall olJs in respect of your State on the samelines and undcthe same condit ions as those ob aining in the case of Kew South I ales VictoriaSouth Allstralia and Tasmania is conclUTed in by the Government

The Hon the Premier

II e3tern Australia

Perth

Yoms faithfullySgd EARLE PAGE

Acting Prime Minister

Memorandum to the Secretary Department of the Intel jor Canberra F C T

Joint ElectomZ Roll lVe tenl A t1stmlla

It is submitted that having regard to the following considerations the only pradicable basisupon which the Commonwealth may agree to an arrangement for a joint Commonwealth and Stateeledoral roll in the State of IVestern Australia is that upon which is based the existing arrangements for joint rolls in the States of New South IVales Victoria South Australi l and Tasmania

Under each sueh existing arrangement the established Commonwealth eledoral organisationis the maehinery employed in the preparation and maintenance of the joint roll In all cases however it is provided that the Eledoral Registrars ineluding divisional returning officers in theirr apaeity as electoral registrars are jointly appointecl by the Commonwealth and the State functionunder joint Commonwealth and State regulations and act under the joint instructions of the ChiefJ leftora Orticer for the Conllllonwealth and the Pril ipal Eleetoral Offi er of the State

It is consiclererl that this is the only feaible basis upon which a joint roll urrangement maybe founded inasmueh as it is essential that in its fundam ntal requirements the Commonwealth lawmust be applied and adminis erecl uniformly in and between aU States and that accordingly thel ol1lmonwealth must presenc its authority oe ami ontrol of its electoral administrative machinery The Chief Electoral Officer for the Commonwealth is responsible to the Commonwealth Parliament for the proper administration of the Commo11vealth electoral laws throughout the Commonwealth as a whole and to effeetively and uniformly implement those laws there has heenestablished a permanent eledoral organisation comprising a Commonweallh eledolal officer in eachStlte and a divisional returning officer in each dl ision w110 are chalgrd with the administ ration of

viii

the Commonwealth Electoral Ad and regulations in the respective States and divisions and UPonwhom is imposed by law certain highly important functions in connection with the preparation andmaintenance of the rolls Further as the Commonwealth Electoral Officer for the State and there pecti e divisional returning officers control and conduct the Senate and House of Representati eselections and perfor1Jl other services not directly cOllnected with the upkeep of the rolls theyould need to be tailled in theil present respecti e positions in any case and that being sothe main object of a joint roll ewnomy in public expenditure would be virtually nullified unlessthe sen iees of the COlnmonwpalth Electoral Officer and the divisional returning oillcers are utilisedin tlie performance of the work involved in the preparation and maintenance of that rollThe Conllnomnalth eleetoral organisation has been established in each State on unifOlllllines designed to insure uniformity of administration and a definitely high standard of service andefficiency It applies and works throughout the Commonwealth standardised systems in relation tothe upkeep of the rolls such as the card index of electors maintained constantly up to date in theoffice of the Commonwealth Elcetoral Oftjccr at caeh State capital the habitation index maintainedby diyisional returning ofJieers 2nd reliewed by the postmen in metropolitan aJ eas and main countrycentres under agreement between the Chief Electoral Officer and the Postmen s Association and theElectoral agency review method in areas outside habitation index territory It provides for interstate notifications of transfcr and interstate i lvices between tbe respective indexes not practicablein cases where the State maintains its own rolls After taking evidence in all States the joint selectcommittee on Commonwealth electoral Jaw and procedure said in its report tabled in 1927 that theCommittee is of the opinion that the Commonwealth machinery is the most efficient electoral machinery in the Common wealth and further on the subject of joint rolls reported as follows

The evidence placed before the committee on the subject of joint rolls was overwhelmingly in favour of that system As a result of its adoption printing is facilitated simplifiedand cheapened and electors are not exposed to the mistake they frequently make where Stateand Federal rolls exist of thinking they are on both when they are really on one It was generally agreed that the Federal roll was cleaner and more up to date than those of the States Itis moreover a continuous roll whereas the States accumulate much dead wood in thelong interyal between colledion by the police and publication by the electoral authorities Inthe States where the system is now in operation the results obtained are admitted both by theState and Commonwealth authorities and also by members of political organisations of all partiesand others interested to be eminently satisfactory and successful No complaint of any kindwas made in these StatesIt is recommended that the Premier of tVestelllAustralia be informed that the Commonwealthis prepared to enter into an arrangement for a joint Commonwealth and State electoral roll in respect of the State of lestern Australia only On the same lines and under the same conditions asthat obtaining in the case of the States of New South tVales Y ictoria South Australia and Tasmaniain which the joint roll system is already in operation viz as set out in the attached copy of the

arrangement in respect of the State of New South Wales See Appendix CSuch arrangement provides for the preparation and maintenanee of the joint rolls by theexisting Commonwealth electoral organisation working under joint Commonwealth and State regulations and the joint instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer for the Commonwealth and the Principal Electoral Officer for the StateThe salaries and allowances of the permanent Commonwealth electoral staff and registrarsand the payments for selTices rendered by postmen working the habitation index system and electoral agents employed etc are met by the Commonwealth in full The cost to the State is limitedto one half the expenditure involved in

a the printing and binding of joint electoral rolls and the material thereforb the printing of books forms and other printed matter used for joint electoral purposesand the material thereforc pecial allowances if any to individual police officers in the form of extra remunerationas lllay be jointly agreed upon

from whieh it will be seen that the arrangement is most favourable to the State from the financialaspectThe scope of the Co operative arrangement is limited to the preparation maintenance andprinting of the joint rolls and the re arrangement of unit boundaries incidental thereto and doesnot affec t the conduet of State elections which remain in the sole control of the State authoritiesIt is pointed out that the permanent Commonwealth divisional returning officers who prepareand maintain 01 supervise the preparation and maintenance of the rolls are trained speeialists inthn t WOlk and IIhere the joint roll system is in operation those ollicers in their capacity as registrarsanfl such other registrars as are required in conntr divisions are in effect equally servants of theState as of the Commonwealth working under joint Commonwealth and State regulations and thejoint jnstrnctions of the Chief Electoral Officer for the Commonwealth and the Principal ElectoralOfficer for the State

Sgd V F TURNERChief Electoral Officer

IX

thre

as

11a

he

Your Commissioners are of op1111on that it would be more eeonomical if the joint olls were el1

II l hv the State Notwithstanding any anangemem 1hich might be made were your CommissionerstlO cc

l q d to ll ommend same and the Government to adopt tlle reeonunendation for the Commonwealthl l PO F 1 II l I

j el both State and e eral 10 s It IS 0 JVlOUS t1at the tate lectoral office would haye to be retained

to e

lor the purpose oi

1 The keeping of the Legislative Couneil rolls

2 Shop polls under the Factories and Shops Act

1 Election of Mines Workmen s InspectorsJ Election of members for the Railway Appeal Board

Election of members for the Railway Classification Board

j Election of members for the Prisons Employees Appeal Board

I Election of members for the Lunacy Employees Appeal Board

S Checking licensing petitions

The work specified in items 1 2 and 8 could not be performed without the continued and Ull111

tell l1ptell aeeess to the Assembly claim cards unless an independent eanvass was made or some other

I1Hthod of enrolment was introduced

In his evidente the State Chief Electoral OAleer tontended that the sole benefit to the electors of

this Statl if tbe rollwere put under Commonwealth eontrol in the way suggested by the Commonwealth

Hmlr 1 the lodging by electors of one claim card instead of two as is at present necessary The Chief

Eledola I 0 Aleer for the State also stated in his eyidc l1ee tha t the State could perform the COnllllOlHyealth

dectoral York for all a lditional sum of f OO per annum

The Comlllollwea1th incurs an expenditure of fj G20 for the annual upkeep of its own offiee in

this tate whilst tlie annual cost of the State offiee is f3 040 In both these cases howenr the eost of

printing rolls prior to an eledioll and the yarious expenses attendant on an election are not taken into

account

Bc fore any eflCCti e seheme could be arrived at for the amalgamation of State and Common

nalth 1s it HJ1lIc1 be lleeessary that the boundaries or State electoral districts should as far as pos

sible he made o terminous with the boundaries of the Commonwealth eleetoral diyisions and some new

Ilethoc ill IUl e to be deyised to allow a proper representation for the various districts as the Eleetoral

llistJids 1et 192 3 would be unsuitable in its provisions The Commonwealth has five c1ivisions in the

State whilst the State has 0 electoral districts and broadly speaking they depend for their existeme on

a definite sehenw of proportional representation as laid down in the Electoral Districts Act 1923

There is proision made in the existing electoral Act to authorise the State Government to enter

into Hll arnmgemellt ith the Commonwealth for joint rolls It is proposed to re enact this proyisionSee el 1l1Se 3 3 of the draft Bill in the appendix

It is allti jpatec1 that with the present positioll on the goldfields i e a large influx of population

with OITlS lOnding eftlux from other portions of the State it will not be long before a redistribution of

seats ill be necessary in which event one of the first instructions to the Commissioners entrusted with

fhe task of making reeom1llendations in regard to redistribution of seats should be to consider the bound

aries of Statp eleetorates so that the r are co terminous with Commonwealth divisional boundaries as far

as possihle

Il oyision is ahead r made by the Commonwealth laws for the alteration of sub divisional boundaries

ithollt Jegislatiye action

entil the boundaries are so far as practicable w termillous our Commissioners recommend that

no lrtion be taken for the amalg amation of the Commonwealth and State rolls

1

i

s

8

d

n

d

le

d

Jle

Ie

tIe

l

d

ter

Itbe

In

hees

ad

he

la1n

ars

ee

ted

IOn

IlL LAVB RELAlING TO THE CONSTITl TION OF THE LEGISLATIVE COl NCIL

a A redistribution of seats

b The constitution of 15 provinees in lien of 10 provinees as at prese11t each one of the 15

provinees to return two members to the Council

Your Commissioners eonsider that the time has ani erl vhen a redistribution of seats in the Leg is

lati e Countil shoulrl be made Reference has alread been made in this report to the large efflux of

l Opu atioll from various provinces and a consequential influx into others Your Commissioners consider

that lwn this redistribution is made it could be made vith the object of dividingthe State into 15 pro

111r es in lien of 10 provinces as at present

It is l ollsidered that 15 provinces would give better representation than 10 provinces Each of

thl e 1 lJII illles if tlip recommendation of your C l nl1Jis ioners is carried out should return two mem

h to tlie onneiL Half of the members would retire automatically that is to say one member for each

1 1 ovin e nt a pproximately the same time as a generaI eleetion for the Legisra tive Assembl

ses

cial

andtoes

are

III

aIS

the

theoral

r

IV GENERAL RECmDIENDATIONS

a That the duration of the Legislative Assembly be inereased from three to four ears after

the next electionh That the present constitutional praetiee of members retiring on the aceeptallC e of Minis

terial offlce be abolished

x

Your Commissioners consider that the duratiun of the Legislative Assembly is too short and that aperiod of foul years would give better reoults than tJ1lee

In the Eledoral Bill in the appendix the present machinery prOVISIOns of the Electoral 11907 21 relating to the election of members accepting YIinisterial office have been continued in8Smll has the la s relating to the retirement of members aceepting Ministerial office are still in the ConstitutionAds Amendment Act Your Commissioners consider howe er tbat the system of retirement on aeeeptanee of Iiniiterial offiee is not in accord with modern constitutional practice as existing in the ot lieStates of the Commonwealth and in the CommO1ealth and in otber parts of the British dominionIn yiew of the fact that the general elections for both Houses will shortly take place we recommend that the Eledoral Bill in the appendix be introduced into ParJiament as early as possible in the O lIing session so that any alteration made in the laws may he widply knOnl before the elettions tab pLI tFurthermore we think that this report and the draft Bill in the appendix should be made available jopublic information as early as posoihleIn conclusion your Commissioners desire it to he noted that as far as possible the provisions ofthe State legislation hi h differ materially in prinl iJlp from the Commonwealth legislation haYe hl enhrought into agreement by tIle adoption of the Comlllo1 eaJtiJ plOYisions particularly relating to PlIolment and voting in absence

The Honourable C G Latham who 1as appointCd a Commissioner left this State on a trip toEngland a 1 has not et l etul1Jec1 He attended thc initial sittings of the Commission but owin2 to his8bsen c he i neeessarily not a sig11atory to this reportThe Commission desire to express their thanks to the Conll1lOllvealth Electoral Offieel l1n e tern Australia l R Bandy for his assistance and the eomprebensie nature of the eviclencC snl lIlittl dby him

The State Chief Electoral Offieer Ir H R Gordon was in attendance during the delibeliltiulIsof the Commission and wa of very great assistan to the Commission particularly with regard tothe working and administration of the present Act and the proposed alterationsThe ClOwn Solicitor Mr A A Wolff as draftsman necessarily had to be consulted freljlPlltlyand the Bill in tllsehedule is a distinct improvemlnt on thAct due to llis effortsThe Commis ion also desire to record their appreeiation of the manner in which the Secretar 11L Y Stotter anied out his duties

S lTPPLEMENrRON

AND RECOjHIENDAllIONSJ CORXELL jI L C

BY

Conierning the majority recommendations em iJodied in the report of the Coullni sion I concur subjeer to the followiug exceptions

1 Curtailment Leyislatia COllncil FrancliiseClause 18 of the Bill accompanying the majority report eliminates the ratepayer qualificationwhich has appeared in the Constitution Acts since re3ponsible government This being so Iam opposedto its total elimination and recommend that it be retained in a sompwhat modified forlll as followsAllY person not otherwise qualified whose name appears on the electoral list of auy mllniipality or road district in respect of property withiu a province of the annual rateable value of seventeen pound t least habe enrolled as a Legislati e Couneil eleetol

2Obligatorreleijit upon accepting a claim c rd fotransmission u a reyistrarClause 4J of the Bill makes it an offence wi h beavy penalties for any person other than anofficer to receiye a l1aim eard for transmission to a registrar before tendering a signed official l el eipttherefor This proposal is it unique one and if given effect may tend to defeat the obligation cast onpersons hy the eOlnjJulsory enrolment proYisions to enrol themselns as Legislatin bsembly eledol sAlso it is eltaiu to make Legislative Council enroLncnt Illore eOlJlpJicated and difticult than it is now

3 Totalabolitioll of tlie existillg form of postal eotillY and substitu ion of seleral measures of votilliil8e1lee set out in diDision J of the BillAfter a elose eonneetion extending over more than a quartr of a century with the applicationof the present system of postal voting my eonclusions ar

a That there is not lllueh rong ith the existing law OJ the way in which it has funetionetl generally There have been exhibitions of abuses and weaknesses in tbe aetllal working out ofits proYisions but in ninty five per ent of tlllse lapses it ean be said that they havbeendue firstly to the human factor represented hy the doubtful ealibre of some postal voteof ieers and the lax and indiscriminate manner of their appointment

JAS CORNELL

xi

To the condition of eledoral rolls particularly SOllie province rolls wherein there was all

ample field for fraud on the part of over zealous candidates unscrupulous election agentsand partisan postal vote offirers As is generally the case in the field of abuse or fraud practjcaJl all offenees alleged or aetua aainst the existing postal voting facilities have oceurre

in the eity and towns and not as one might expeet in the less congested remote or isolated

areas Hecommendations are being made that will if given tiert to enable the electoral

l1epartmenl to e en ise a nmeh stricter discrimination and snpenision in the fnture pre

parHtion Hnd keeping of electoral rolls partieularly province rolls If the appointment of

postal Hlte offief r vas restrieter1 to sa magistrates reg istrars returning ol lieers assistant

returning officers presiding offieers pJblie sen anb and members of the Joliee force and

ir I JIovir1erl that no postal vote be re onlpd la1pr than p m on thp la prior to pollin lay such provisions would in eO l i1l11dion with the existing law giH satisfaction so

far as is possihle umler an working vstem of postal or absent voting The llgg ested

rilternative to tllP present sy tem are to usp an ll11popnlar word reyolntionan S l1i

olleagnes in their majority report give little or no explana tion other than a referenee to

lanses of the Rill of the proposer1 rar1 al turnover from a long estahJislw 1 postal n tin

s ystem to 0ll1ptlling entirely ney aIH1 in some regards hoth eXjwrimental a l pxploratoy

It is not my obligation to explain theIll but I do uggest that the be 2 iven n very lose

exnminarion 1articularly their effect jf agreed to upon remote or isolaterl parts of the

State awl upon electors domiciled ther in and also as to their possible effect dne to ollntingall c Iases of nb ent votes at one giwl1 nrr in the deelaration of election polls

The HOll Thomson although not a signa tor to this minority report concurs with paragraphhereof and the Hon G Fra er although lIot a signatory e01lUrs with paragraph 2 hereof

b

I have the hononr to he your Excellen y s most obedient servant

Ve have the honour to be your Excellency s most obedient servants

J YILLCOCK

Chairman

CHAS F BAXTERHS CORNELL

G FRASER

A R G HAWKE

ROSS McDONALDH S W PARKERA THOIfSONF T S WISE

CommissionersL W STOTTER Senetal

Perth the 26th day of July 1935

REPORT OF EVIDENCE

TUESDAY 19th FEBIWARY 1935

PresentHon J C Wilcock M LA

Hon J C Olllell M L OHon G Ji raser M L CHon A Thomson ML CA R G Hawkc Esq M LA

HAROLD mOHARD GORDON

1 By the CllAIRMAHave you a statement preI1tJ d I I han a statement dealing with the amalgama1

of State and Commonwealth rollsUunThe amalgamation of the Commonwealth rolls with

those for tile State Assembly Distrids hlS ueen underconsideration forat least 30 years

The princIpal obstacle has been and IS the dIfference in tIle uoundary lines of the respective electorates While the Commonwealth has fh e Divisions theState has 50 Districts and the method of ascertainingthe Parliamentary representation so f 11 as the numuer of State members is concerned is governed bythe Electoral Districts Act of 1923

The re distribution of the Oommoll l ealth electoralboundaJies proposed last year so far as the Western

Australian Divisions are concerned was not passedbv the OOlllmonwealth Parliament Not until there isa 1 alteratilln in the boundary lines can any stepsforward be taken to effect an amalgamation of theState and Commonwealth rolls

There is another point of difference between theState and Commonwealth electoral machinery but itwill be removed if a proposal now before this Commission is adopted It refers to the immediate enrolment of electors as is the Commonwealth system instead of waiting 14 days The proposed alterationin the se stcm of postal nd absentee voting would alsotend to simplify the procedure when an amalgamahon is effected The State could not continue itspresent system of postal voting without having dailyaccess to the claim cards of Assembly electors

Before any amalgamation can be effected the bonndanes of the State districts must agree with the Commonwealth subdi isions and divisions In VesternAustralia it is imperative that thcre should he nooverlapping of uoul1daries as electors have a varyingvalue so far as numbers are concerned in the electiollof members of the Legislative Assembly For instancefor the purpose of ascertaining the number of members to be apportioned to the several areas of theState as described bv the State Eledoral Districts Acteach one elector in thc mining and pastoral areas iounted as two hile in the metropolitan area everythree electors count as two and in the agriculturalareas elery elector counts as one There can be no

overlapping of boundaries between these areas 01 fortbe fOlll lolth rn Distlict l otherwise the Humberof e r tors to Oht ill the quota for Parliamcntanreprcsltation eOl1lc not w ascrrt iJle LSo long s the Electoral District Act remains inforce the distribution of electors ar d the boundariesof e edol l are s wm be governed therebyAmalg mated rolls are in operation in all Statesexcppting Qneens anc and Western Australia

iQueen lallil h s no Upper House the Lower House

Sf compllsc l of 62 members elected for that numbero dstrirts

tN c South vVa les has a nominated and not an elecIVe P

sin 1PpPr House The Assembly is constituted by 90E e seat clectorates

AVlctoria Both Houses are elective bodies The

t 888tmblhas 6 members elected for single seat elecra es

tbo til ustralia oth Houses are elective For

Ii tOUncII five dl8tncts return four members eachea rh he Assembly eight districts return three membersand 11 districts two members each

ChairmanHon C G Latham JliLL AR R McDonald Esq M LAI J S Wise Esq M LA

Chief Electoral Officer examinedLasmauia Both Houses elective Council one dis

trict retullling three members one district returningtwo members 13 districts one member each Assembly five districts returning six member3 each

Where there are multiple electorates as in SouthAustralia and Tasmania it is a comparatively simplematter to have the same boundaries for both Stateand Commonwealth electorates Where single seate edorates exist thelc has to be an aggregation ofState districts to make up the lesser pumber of Commonwealth divisions

In the Veal 1931 an extensive report was preparedby the Cl ief Electoral Officer for Western Australiadealing mflinly with prospective financial benefitswhich might accrue to the State and Commonwealth int 10 eyent of the amalgamation becoming effective Onprevious occasions where the matter has come up fordiscussion it was assumed that the control of anyamalgamation would vest in the Commonwealth butwhen reyiewing it from a finaneial standpoint it wouldappear that the greatest saving could be obtained ifthe rolls yere under State control Following uponthe report of the Chief Electoral Officer an inspectorof the State Treflsury also reported on the financialposition flnd arrived at a similar conclusion

The main and only benefit to the public that wouldaecrue if the Commonwealth takes control is the lodging by electOls of one claim card instead of two

There are 85 000 electors who now make out threeclaim cards namely the COlllmonwealth the StateAssembly and the State Council electors and thesewill stiil be making out two cards

There would be no saving in cost of printing ason one occasion onlv in 25 vealS could th8 rolls asprinted for a Comn onwealth election be used for aState Election or m ce vel sa

lt is generally assumed by the Commonwealth authorities and othcrs not acquainted with the activitiesof the State Department that the whole of the staffof the latter you d not be required if the State Assemhly rolls were transferred to Commonwealth control As I understand the pnsitiOll the Oommonwealthdesires the Assembly roll only and is not preparedto take over the whole of the State Electoral workSo far as the State is concerned it could perform thehole of the work at a very small additional cost

The position of the State in regard to Assemblyclaim cards and enrolments is that they are used tocorrect Province rolls both in regard to qualificationsand the addresses of Province electors Withoutconstant access every day to the card index it wouldnot be practicable for the State to keep its Provincerolls up to date There would have to be an entirelydifferent method of preparation or tbe qualificationssimplified under which Province electors could be enrolled

Tht reports of the Chief Electoral Officer and Treasury Inspector referred to herein together with thecopy of a letter from the Commonwealth Public Service Inspector Sydney dated 16th June 1931 and areply thereto are alta ched for referencenow propose to quote fr m the report of the Treasurylllspector In dealmg WIth the amalgamation therewould have to be two separate staffs for elections forboth the State and the Commonwealth That principleis adopted in every other State One set of officers does

cr

not carry out the actual elections as they occur whetherState or Commonwealth Vith regard to printing theroll which is used for a Commonwealth election say in

1934 could not be used b the State Assembly publicfrom the election point of view in 1 36 You could not

hold an election on a two years supplement In the

same way a Commonwealth eleetlOn could not be heldon a State roll of l36 There OIld havc to be reprintmg every time yon had an election The saying that

could be effected is in the compilation of the maIlu criptrull which is carrier out day by day by both departments In 1931 I prepared a rcport but I have not

brought it up to date as it would covel very much the

ame ground in the matter of statistics and deal withthe same kind of matter as it does now The actual

results of these reports are as follows An amalgamation has been effected in Victoria South Australia and

New South Wales Tasmania has practicaIJy always had

amalgamated rolls because it elects six members forthe five divisions I weIlt to the statistical retords to

ascertain what the reduction in the State costs was after

the amalgamation and before I will quote from the

Treasury inspector s report which follows the same li es

as my own I will now give the Commonwealth salanes

and State salaries for all the States as they appear in

the Commonwealth Year Book In 1921 the actual ex

penditure on salaries alone for the Commonwealth was

j62538 and for all the States f11 770 In 1928 29 the

Co mo wea1th expenditure had grown to f80 978 and

aU the States expenditure to f13 201 There was no

proof that the amalgamation of the rolls had bro ghtabout a reduction in the fixed salaries of the vanous

States which had amalgamated In Suuth Australia

where the rolls were amalgamated in 1920 the expenditure was then f2 922 but in 1928 29 it had risen to

f3 695 To the figures quoted of salalles paid has to 1 e

added the allowance paitl to Commonwealth officers to

compile the rolls For South Australia New South

Wales Victoria and rasmama these ad htlOnal allow

ances aggregated fl965 The report of the Treasuryinspector was in reply to a letter from Mr T S Duncan

of the Public Service Inspector s Office Commonwealth

Bank Buildings Sydney He specially mentioned Vic

toria as a place where the preparation of province r lIs

as comparatively easy and could be undertaken WIth

a small staff In Western Australia the electors can

claim under many different headings In Victoria the

rolls are compiled from ratepayers lists which is an

office matter and has no reference to the public There

are certain grades of people in Victoria such as minis

ters of religion and others who can claim hy virtue oftheir profession These are fnin number It is suggested that a joint roll for the Commonwealth amI the

State Assembly be prepared by OIle organisation the

Commonwealth leaving the State to prepare its o n

Council roll That is yhat Ir un an suggests2 Tith some experienee might they not Colve a sys

tem by which there eould he joint rolls as in the other

States eventually though not imnwdiatdy My aim in

the suggestions I have pnt forward is to simplify the

qnalifieations for the Upper House so that tiley may be

come effective itll the qualifieations for the UpperHouse as they are now it would not be possible for the

Province and Asembly rolls to be amalgamated3 By Hon T CORNELL It would be almost im

possible for you It is nearly impossibl for us to 10

it as a matter of faet I am seeking simplifieutiou of

the qualifications for the Upper House The arrangement suggested by the Commonwealth would be not

economical to the State beeause the State deals with

many other matters apart from the Assembly rolls l or

the year which is mentioned in this report there were

21 licensing petitions um eaeh lieensing petition I may

say takes as much time as an election for an Assemblydistrict During the same year there were t o shop pollsunder the Factories and Hh ls Act the e have to heconducted by the department For that year furtherfour mines workmen s inspectors were appoint

4 By the CHAIRMAN The election for those isconducted by you By us Then there is the RailwavAppeal Board which we have just completerThere s

also the Railway UlassiJicatioIl BoanThen there are

the Prisons Employees Appeal Board and tll LunaeyEmployees Appeal Board All those are conducted b

the State Some provision either by way of legislatioil

I

01 by tIle Commonwealth taking them over would Ilavto be made if all anwlgamation is effeeted under C0111m 1l ealth eontrol 1 hae ascertained that in the evenof amalgamation there still remains in each StateChiet Bledoral Oflicer who supervises to an e

tent tile work perforllled by the Commonwealtiofficials In summarising the posiion as it standtn day if tIle ConUllr lJ ealth were to take IVelt e Isscml ly roll ollly of the State the savinI1l eXI Pllll1tUIl ould ill not more than 10600 t

liO a year That would be in mlaries I speak 01

salaries IlOW because the election expenditure and thconsequential expenuitme on printing would still h

b011le IJY the State the same as it is to day If the StallJJepartment had not access to the Assembly informationt ere would have to be a complete canvass 01 som

other method of enrolment than we have fo the promees to day and that 1 ouM have to be done eery tWfjcars

J By Hon U FRASER I should think that woullibe ln ImlJl oenlOntl It depends on whether the qualil1catlol IS altered So long as you keep the householdercluahflcatlOn WIth a constantly moving population YOUmust haH acccss to the Assembly cards in OJder ltwnsfer the householder when he transfers his householder qualification because that particular qualificatioIS personal plus resldenbal he has to reside there

6 By Hon J CORNELL But yon must have aheck on any other elector rell1oving Ve do have l

eheck Oil other eiectOls moving hy theiT giving us theirnew addresses When they shift from one address toanotheT and still retain their qualification whether 1

leaseholders 01 ra teJil rers 01 freeholder and tlle otherqualiJications mentioned in the Aet

7 By HOll G l RASER The main effort of yourlepartment to ay so far as the Legislative Council ij

tonee1lled is to clean the Tolls of those not entitlel tute but no efforts are made to get on the roll thosp

who arc entitle to voteTheTe is no compulsory en

rOllllent am we hne no machinerto put those nameall the roll

8 By Hon J CORNELL Even if the Commowealth were to take the matter oveT the State caulnot keep the L gislative Couneil roll without elaim cardsbeeause the A8semblclaim cards would not tell YOlI th

qual1ficatlOn In Idona they resort to the shire orcouneil rolls what are called inunicipal Or Toad boardI olls here for the preparation of the Legislative Conllcil roll

By lIon G FRASER In Victoria there are no

claIm cards at an Not except in regard to certainpersons such as ministers of religion and universitystudents who are set out in the Victorian Act

10 By the CHAIRMAN Still your department ellrleuvour to encourage people ith the qualification togo on the I gi8lative Conneil ro P We make 2ven

effort to get tllem on

11 And assist them And assist them to ourU 11l0 t Ve 10 not seek to epri e any province electorof l1S enrolment lie arc in constant communicationwith the electors If they change their addresses weask them whether they still retain their qualification forenrolment or whether they hae any otller qual ficntionvhl h tH y wonld l1ke to suhstitute

12 By Hon j B RASER But no canvass is madby our depnrtenlllt No

13 By Hon J ORNELL It hfls bein It hasheru ll1i le in pa st years

4 But as the qnalifications fire now interpretedvpn the potent1ll1 oledor would have to be 1 hush lawnr to know wl etber he was pntitled to get on the roil01 no That 1S so shall qnote from the eport noli

r vlP of the aclJnbcs of the reRpctti e dejJartmmtl1

u

ll1o nents of the State for Assemhlv and Councilt IC 03 64 and the Commonwealth pnrolmen s

fit tl1same elate were 21 42 a lifferenee of approxill1 t l 88 000

5 By IIon G LATHAM Have YOU flllidcaof he disercpflnn hetween the Fcrleral olls a1Id tl eA rmblv r l1s For man years the State AS lemblY1 11 las vaned from 2 000 1111 to as high as 20 000 mMr1 1Ull the ommonwenlth fin 1 no test coul 1 Le applied1 0 wheth l t e State rolls were inflated or werp not

1l1llntpd llntl1 the laRt Assemblv election On that 0 1Ton 8 hnd what was eomparativelv speaking compul

sory vohng because there was compulsorv voting in reo

gard to the c ferendnm and the electors took advantageof thnt pronslOn to vote praetically ompulsorily for the

aVem

enta

ex

ilthndsIver

ingtoof

thebe

ateioume

TO

two

blv also The result was that we had a State pollAsseln

ti lO lO HO j IJer cent of tlle electorb That is theanIUun t t blirst occaslOn when we were able to do Wlla n11gll e

J I IJro e that the rolls were In sutll order that theycal ee

re nut lllfia led

Ii Did you llav any cheek at that time between

ederaJ and the tate rolls If my memory 1S nghtederal total at that time was about 13 00U less than

oUl By Mr WISE For that 90 per c nt to be an

average there must hllve been some very hIgh figures

W nlade some lllqUlnes knowIng where people weree

out of Austra Jia altogether and others in the Eastbome d h t h Iern States and we ascertalne t a In suc p aces we

had a IOU pel cent poll Some of them were ingaol and

me inthe hands at the polleeso

18 By HOll G F AS R rhat woule be in a s al

leI electorate I take 1t I 1hat was 11l North East j re

antle and South j remantle11l

HI By Mr HAWKE Jt would be hmdly f ir to

compare the ilt ate roll with the Federal rolllmmedlately

following a btate electIOn1 No d1d not do that

lhe figures quoted here were asceltamed from the Fed

eral uepartment 1he edelal depal tment If I ask

them are kind enough to give me the figures TIns hme

they were ascertained by the TreasurJ1l1spector20 But just prior to a State electIOn there IS a bIg

rush for people to emol for the State and they would

not at the same time trouble to enrol or t e Common

wealth But we do get a large proportIOn of such cases

21 By Hon J CORNELL H w did the percentage

in the only compulsory poll in estern AustralIa com

pare with the nearest compulsory poll in the Common

wealth I would have to look that up The Common

wealth percentage runs between22 1 mean the poll nearest our compulsory poll the

last election would be the nearestI have not seen

the statistics for that They have not yet come to my

hands Speaking from memory the figure is about 96

01 97 per cent However that is the percentage of thenumber of people who are supphed WIth ballot papersThe Commonwealth has a special provision whereby youobtain a ballot paper without being on the roll ard you

can vote in absence We have not those provIsIOns at

present Our figures of people who actually voted were

90 6 per cent at the last election23 Would you say that the only actual test as to

the relative position of both rolts would be the resultascertained at a compulsory poll Would that get youfurther forwarcl than comparing both rolls N0 further at all I quoted those figures as referring to theanIv occasion when we have had a compulsory poll

24 That has worked out fairly well with the Commonwealth Yes

25 Leaving the rolls outof the question it is prettynearly the same Yes

26 Bv Hon C G LATHAM Was the Federal com

pulsory election of any great value to the State Electoral Offiee Yes for the reason that we could com

pare the names of the persons who east their votes

which is the onlv wav bv which we can gain access to

information on that point Ve found thaf a lot of people who attempted to vote by post for a particular district did not vote for the candidates for that districtbut for those standing for an adjoining electorate In

other words thev did not know in what electorate theywere situated

27 By Hon G FRASER Did those in that categoryrepresent a large number Thel numbered 3 500

28 Bv Hon J CORNELL Was that not due to the

fact that they hail to vote for the referendum It arose

owing to th0 postal conditions because the referendumpan was on that basis

29 By Hon G FRASER Did that not occur mostlyin the Claremont and Ne llands electorates There were

a tremendous number of them there30 By lIon J CORNELL Was it not possible

under the conditions that obtained for a Claremont man

to yote at Neelhnds in connection with the referendumYes31 But at the same time he could not vote at Ned

iands fnr the Claremont Assemblv candidate That isso that is where the confusion arose

132 By Hon G FRASER In those instances the

her rq were not aware of the particular candidates fore re pective seats That is so

3 By the CIlAIRMAN With regard to the referen Urn election inwhich you say the percentage of votes

u dliftder

youto

llse

i01

2 a

e a

lleirto

ss

her

OUI

I isl tolose

ell

mes

lOL

lUln

rdsthe

01

lard

lUll

no

tainsity

en

I to7 ry

our

ctM

tionIe

fortiOll

lade

has

tedlawroil

noWlnt

ncilentsold

ideathe

nblynore

liednot

1

pull re

tagethe

east was 90 6 what was the percentage result of effective votes to the enrolments for the Commonwealth election Itwas between 96 and 97 per cent

4 All over tl e Commonwealth 1 1 cannot say that

was the percentage right through the Commonwealth beeau e I haw not perused the statistics

3 By Hon J CORNELL Mr Bandy the Federaleleetoral oftieer informs me that the average throughout the Commollwalth would be between 90 and 92 percent The percentage varies in tIlt different States andin Queensland for instance it is high but there are

eertain conditions that govern the situation thereThat is so

36 By the CHAIRMAN Taking the State percentage as practically 9J per cent the eompari on with theFederal perentage would tend to indicate that the

State rolls are inflated to the extent of 1 per cent onlytYes37 By Hon J CORYELL Did you find that any

rHEd objections were raised with reference to the com

pulsory rderendum poll We did not receive any protests

38 Did any of your offiers submit reports in thatolllleetion Ve reecivel no adverse reportslJ By Hon G FRASER Do you know if instances

oceurrcd of ballot papers being inserted in the ballotboxes without allY markings on them I have had no

speeial references to that practice That sort of thingwould bring the papers under the heading of informalballot papers and t he State percentage of informal votes

at eleetions is about 10740 How would that eompare with the informal votes

at the Seeessioll referendum The percentage was aboutthe same there was very little difference Of course

there is always a big difference between the informalI otes cast in this State in connection with an ordinaryCommonwealth election and those cast in a State election

4J By llon J CORNELL And there is a goodreason for that Yes the grouping of candidates

42 By Hon G B RASER Many people because

they were compelled to vote at the Secession referendum merely placed their ballot papers in the boxeswithout marking them at all You say that the percentage who acted in that way was small Yes therevere very few who did that

43 By Hon C G LA HAM But there have beeninstances of persons placing ballot papers in the boxes

without marking them at all where voting has not been

compulsorl Yes Quoting again from the report Ihave been dealing with I would mention the votes re

eorded at elections In 1930 when the LegislativeCouncil election was held at the same time as the As

semblv election the State dealt with 191 064 electorsand iw Comm nwealth votes for that year totalled

108 094 a difference of practically 83 00044 Bv the CHAIRMAN And would that be repre

sented b the difference regarding the Legislative Coun

cil enrolment That represented 52 000 The actualvotes counted in the Commonwealth election was 108 094The Assembly poll immediately after that election was

139 013

45 Bv Hon G FRASER A difference of approximately 3i 000 1 Yes

46 Bv the CHAIRMAN Regarding the amalgamation of the State and Federal rolls has the departmenthad any experience with regard to peopl e who becausetheir names appeared on the State roll thought theywere on the Commonwealth roll That experience has

been common to both the State and the Federal Electoral

Departments After a Commonwealth election we fr

quently are interviewed by people who present thellState enrolment acknowledgment cards and want to

know hy their names were not on the Commonwealth

01147 If the rolls were amalgamated it would be ll

matter of conyenienee to those people although ad

mittedly the fault has been their own Yes48 Bv Hon J CORNELL Do you find that a fair

llumher f Legislative Council electors complain that

their names have not appeared on either the State or

the Commonwealth rolls I do

49 B Mr McDONALD As I understand yourevidence the difficulties in the way of amalgamatingthe two electoral rolls appear to be two The first is

that the boundaries of the State electoral distriets arll

not eo terminous with the houndaries of the Federal

electorates and seconrlly in our distribution of the

quotas for the Assembly electorates we proc eed on n

artificial hsis under which in some instances three

electors are countNl as two two as one m1l so on

That is so

50 Apart from the artificial hasis of computatiunfor the quota of electors in giyen electorates the ques

tion of hounonry shoul l not present n insupern bIe rliffi

cuItyf No

51 Nor would it even involve any great difficult

No52 Bv Hon C G LATIIAM It would affect five

electorat s Vhere there is overlapping it might affect

yen 50 electorates53 It would not do that For instance it would not

affect th York or Beverley electorates Those elector

ates would IL affeded For instnce there has been no

redistribution of the Upper House electoral boundarie

ll1d the returning officer at BeYerley to cite one in

stance receies three writs for Legislative Council

election He receives a writ for the East ProYlnce

affeeting portion of his electoral district a writ for

the South East Province for another portion and a writ

for the South Provinee in eonnection with yet m other

portion of his electoral district54 By the CHAIRMAN We were rather compar

ing the position with regard to the Assembly boun

daries They would be affected where there was over

lapping55 That would affect the State and Commonwealth

rollsf Yes It must affcct them if there is any over

lapping hecause the boundaries must be co terminous56 By Mr McDONALD As we have 50 Assembly

eleetorat s and the Commonwealth have fhe seats for

the House of Representatiyes it would work out com

fortably from the stuc1point of the multiple to be useltWe could put those Assembly seats within th e fiP 1e leral divisions for the House of Hepresentati esl As

they stlll1d to dny we could not do tbat

7 By the CHAIRMAN It would not conform to

the Conll lOnwealth law as it stands to dayl It must be

remembered that we IULYe special represei1tation for the

four northe1ll electorates In the mining and pastoralareas in the agricultural areas aurl in the metropolitanareas different bases are used for arriving at the quotafor each eleetoral area Ve ha e three forms of com

putation in arriving nt the figmeso

58 B Hon G FRASEH Coulll overlapping be

preyented hile that s ystr m ohtainsl Tt 1ould be difri

cult to deal with

59 By Hon C G LA THA 1 IVould not the same

yalue attneh to the yoter in the city under both Stateand Forleral s s1 ems Co The 8tn t nIne in the pit

wonld still lw 50 pcr Ollt up00 Then YOU would hae difficulty even between

Perth ll1 l Fr mantle distriets Yes

61 B v the CHAIRMAN Genora 11y speaking it

would ork out that instea l of h1iI1O 10 sents jJ the

metropolitan area it would mean 17 s ats That is if

there 1S on ynlll8 for the eleetors62 Yes In that ewnt the numbcr of seats in the

metropolitan area would rise to 1 bout 21 or 50 per cent

more than the present numher Tlwt has heen tlle effeetof the Commonenlth legislnhon in the Eastern StatesWhereas in New South Wales ll1d Victoria at the C01l1

mencement of Fe lerntioll the scats were apportioJJrl so

many to the COlntry and so many to the tons the ex

plfienec under Federal legislrrtion now is that where ad

ditional eats haye to he proyided they go to the towns

and are lost to the Cl1ntr li trirts That is due to thegrowth of populrrtion of t lie towns The effect of that is1lwt the manufacturing int rests in those Stntes nJ e

securing greater representation in the cities and theountry eleetorates are enjoying Jess represel tation

63 The effw t being that any new seats providecl are

allocated to the cities and are therefore lost to the COllll

trv areas That is so

64 By Hon C G LATHAM In New South Walesis not the value attached to the eountry vote the same

as tllat nttaeherl to the city votd Yes Testern Austraia is the only State in the Commollwealth whele varying a lues apply to electors

65 By Ir VISE How m lllY prodnces of the

Rtale oinntle jtlt s IlIJ l el doratl s 0111y one

1 he orth l nincc

66 By M1HAWEE Could not the difficulty be

OY l OJ1h hy tll COlll111011W dth j1terlng their sllh bvl

sions Tl1r y arC propan l to 10 that

67 The CHAIRllA IVe haye the assurance of

the COl1lmollwe l1th GoYt rllment that ill the eyent of the

amalgamation of rolls the lJolllary of a sub di ision

oulcl by proclamation Le nUllle tn c incide with the State

boundarv When it comes to dIViSIons however altera

tions et lllOt be made unless parliamcnt agrees to a re

rlistributionfiR By HOJL G YTU SIn lnumentionedthnt85 OOO

people uid filletl in thlee cards Can you say how nanypeople filled in two ca ls The numLer was practlcal1ythe same At present the totals of the two rolls are

i hout equalGU Hon G FRASER I WIsh to ascertam the num

1 1 of people ho are inconvenienced71 By th ClL IIUJAN Is not the outstan l

ing fart r the conYeni nee of the people vho in almost

ee1 Y instance have Identlcal quahficatlOns and who

oul l hy filling in one laim eard Slcme enrolment f r

Pedenl and State elections Tbat is the only featurellJat appeals to the Staten B Hon C G LATHAM Could not that be

effecterl hy arrangement between the two officesf That

is not pru ticab e because the claim card has to be keptin an index C3binet 111 it would affect the elector on

HIl lHel roll72 Hon C G LATHAM If you received a claim

cnrd and ent partiulars to tile Commonwealth officeand the Commonwealth office did likewise there would

I 110 great rliffeulty73 By lIon G FRASER But only one office would

have a rEword of the elector 8 signature There wouldalso be confusion in the exclllnging The keeping cf

the index is t seience Comparisons have to be made01Y rla all the are not simple74 Hon C G LATHAM It is a work of art be

cause the e1c ctor with the assistance of political ad

vi 8rs has l e 111ed a stage of perfection and it is difficnlt for Y011 to be as perfect

75 Bv the CHAIRMAN If the Commonwealth Government ns n policy decided on a rigid system of proseeution of those who appeared on the State and not on

the Comillomvealth roll and the State did likewise before long ou wonll have practically identieal 11l1mbers

No it is one of those lifficulties whilh could never beovercome The roll of to lav is ohsolete to monow

76 MIMcDONALD To haw two rolls coveringthe same eleetors with tlle same qualifications and to

haw a difference of 13 000 to 000 in a State likeVestern Australia is not desirahle Under modern busi

ness methods ome system coultl he eyolved whereby thelector woulel not I ave to fi1l in two cards A card might

be provide 1 with space for two specimen signatures one

of them on a pcrfornteel erlge of the card and thateould he sent to the Commmnvealth Office or vice versa

Thnt might reIieve the elector from the trouble nnd con

h1sion of fil1ing in 1 0 ennIs77 The WITNESS A Treasnrv officer ahstraete l

the compiH ati costs of tile two departments the sal

1 1es anll a1l0wn1lces ineluding the cost of obtaining in

f Tmation but exclusive of contingencies The cost to

Vestern Australia was E3 n40 m l to tIle ComTlon

wrnlth 6 G2n78 By the CHAIRJTAN That applied in the Stnt

of V estem Australia Yes I should say that the AssemblY roll constitntes nhont half the work of the elparlmpnt The other half inr1nr1es those mnttels to

hieh I haye nJrenrh referrrrl79 B Ifr fcDONALD The province 1011 wonld be

indnrlerl in tlle other h8lf 7 Ye5 plus licensing etcrhe State pays practicalh nothing for informationwhich is obtainerl from all sonrces Certainly arlvBntageis tRken of the llllJl1ber of ranclidates At the last general election there pre l1G caTHli lates an eneh Ine

bl Ol1fTht yitb him his eoterie of ejectors CRnrHrhtesa I e of Rssistance at election time in getting p ople on

t 1e ro11 The department ohtin a good deal of iI L rma

tlOn also from n10mhrl S for the various ishiets The80 members suppl informltion of their districts prae

tIca all the tIme The Tren sUTY officer to whom Ihave referred aIter quoting the figures for the State andCommonwealth said the obvious conclusion was thattwo senices were unnecessny one service shoul l give

fl 1

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lJ that is required at a considerable saving to bot11 Coma

llVeRlth1ll l State Governments

LlcSC Vas he a State Treasury officer Yes

j By Hon G FRASER It amounted o a rccom

llll lllatioll for tbe amalgamatIOn of rollsW Iea

s By HOll J CORNELL The Assembly rolls or

ti tlll ec ll s He Yas refer ing to the A s mbJy rolls

In 11lY oFin1oll anY mnaJga nahon should bnng about the

t t elnl1JllatlOn of one of the department If you do

Hut eli1lll11 th llle dl l tn ltnt the pxpellthture III 1n

Jl11iOllW1remnJll as 1t 1S to day

83 By the CHAIRMAN It would hardly be possible

for the I 0111mollYrrlth to conduct electJons for the State

or for tllC StatC to conduc electlOns for the C mmon

lye31th That s not done m any other State 1S 1t

o The figures abstracted by me an l by the Treasury

ffilcr 1 0 that although amalgamations hayc been

Hedetl there lws been no reduction of the fixed salaries

of the State officials The report was based on the ques

tion of the osts of the two departmentsI Ji Ir McDONALD The Treasury officer re

lorted t at in the States where the rolls had been amal

gamatld thel h lC1 been no reduction in costs That iR

so

8 Yet he apparently recommended that there should

Ih lJl amalgam1tion of rolls here Yes later jn his e

ort he statei that an amalgamation was necessary

86 If it is not on the ground of cost on what

ground is it based On the question of cost he said

there a1e fOUT separate proposals fo consideration

a tli ma gllll lti of tlw State A semly and Com

nlOJ1welith 1 o s the retention lry the State of its re

nwining fnlldions inuding the Clllllcil 1oIlR e the

t1lnsfer to the Commonwealth of alJ rol1s State As

Rem awl Conneil now prepare 1 hy the State

al l tlw lwrformanee of all other State lntil

eXl l1sil of ledion d the transfer to tu

Stite pf He ClImmonwealth roll but not includ

in thl on lnct of elections Tho e features have

to be dealt with The report goes on to say that for an

additional i OO the State Electoral Office could effec

tively handle the requirements of both Governments in

the j roper preparation of the respective rolls In the

figure of f500 the control of Commonwealth elections has

been excluded87 Bv Hon G FRASER He is recommending an

amalJamation of the rolls but the State is to take over

the Commonwealth section Yes If the State absorbedthe Comlllonwealth Electoral Office the retention by the

Commonwealth Government of their eleetoral office for

the control of Commonwealth elections would have to be

proyided for as is done in the other States where therehas been amalgamation

88 Bv Hon C G LATHAM What is done in the

meantime OYer there the officers are amalgamatedwith other officers and perform otheT duties This

yaries in the different States In New South Wales

the chief officer is lmown as the Electoral Commissionera11l is on full time

89 Bv h MdJOKALD In the other States theCommoll eaJth take over the State offiees but the re

commenrlation here is that Western Au tralia shouldtake oypr the Commonwealth office Ye

90 By Hon T CORXELL What is the kernel of

the reeo 11Jlfnrlation of the State officer His recom

mcndation is that thcrp should be an amalgamationll1Hler the State Hie report was based soJely on financJal reasons I prepared my report at the request of

I e PublIe Seryicr Commis ioner who was thpn Underfreasurer He Ws in Canberra on the occasion of the

c nfeHmer wh h dealt with tile Premiers Plan I madetile report for his use It as rlesired to ascertain what

wou 1 he the reduction in cost under the respectivemetlplds pitl cr Commonwealth or State control I

Hl1incl at the same cone n ions as the Treasnry officialJ By 1 ll DOALD I understand the Treasuryffiel recommend that the State should arlsorh the

COllll1l Jllealth Electoml Office on the ground ofe nom I as under the impression that the con

usJn r11a 1I n hy him was that tllere would be no savingIII expense lll the Hmnlgamation Only in respect totile A seml y runs TlIere ould be no saving jf the

State nre eft Iyith its extraneous dutiesi II

Athat an amalgamation of the State

1111 lth the Conl1lJomyealth rolls would notatl t 1

Ofrr r ue costs as against the State Electoral

r alung oyn the Federal office which he saidwou l l mlf i J eclUCCIT l osts To l lOth the Common

t11 fmd 111 State

rL Hon C G LATH IM

rom the point of view of State

ty belliyi

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expenditure

I

01 B Tlon G FRASER There would be no sav

ing to t1 State if it took 0101 the Comlllonwealth rolls1He ai l tha1 for all increa ed expenditure of f500 the

at cou l rlll Y out the ark9 Eon G 1 RASER Hlm eoulll there be a

saying to the State if it took m er the Commonwealthrolls

91i T CHATR L T e State would receive the

ootlilJution from th COllllllonwpalth for services ren

err 1

97 The WITNESS The Teport goes on to quotefig illl s jll the ase of the State absorhing the Common

Y0ahh EklTor j Oilie0 The present cost to the State

is t 04J The n1 11tional cost to the State of absorb

ing tile Commonwealth ofilce auld lw f500 a total

r t IlO s oltrilution Y the I lmOlllyealth of

f IIII 1 J il g tl ost 10 tl e Statel 140 compared wit

t ll pn ellt st to t1H C Oll1l11011Wenltll of ft3 620 a redu o

till to the CommonwtJlth The east to the State wouldt en hr tl OlO If agJinst fCl 040 a l erluction of f2 000

On tlle point of the Commonwealth ah orhing the State

illce tIle pre ent cost to the Commonwealth is f6 620

om al1 lit onal ff500 Youl l bring the total to 17 120 lessn ontriJ nti n theStat of fIOOO leaving the Com11lonwe lth tost at f6 120 The present cost to the

tatis f OlO hut undPl this arrangement the cost to

the Statyonl l lw fl 576 The eost to the taxpayers1S holmmlrl be fi796 as ag inst the lresent cost

of fD 660 a 1 l1uetion of fj 910 01 19 ppr cent

98 Th H01L J COR EIL That is on the eompilation of the ros7 0n the activities of both departments ejections being excluded The cost to the Statewould be fl G76 as against f3 040 a reduction of f1 464

end the eo t to the Commonwealth would be f6 120 a

reduction of fjOO 01 8 per cent A combined service

could be obtained at a east to the taxpayer under State

control of f4 060 Yln shoul l we pay more On this

ha is the Commonwefl th and State Go ernments wouldobtain the greatest economy Under Commonwealth con

trol the eo t to tIle taxpa er would be f7 696

99 By the CHAIRMAN That is assuming that all

the difficulties attenrlant npon rer1istribution were over

comeT Yes The report is prepared purely on the fin

illeial basis all other featmes being excluded

100That l csuPposs co terminous boundaries

Yes

101 By Hon T CORNELL There would be the

same initial cost in the change averT Yes but aftertl12t there would he no further annual cost

102 Bv Hon C G LATHAM Do the figures you

hlve quot d mean that they will covel the east of the

Iyork as it is clone to dayT Yes103 ould not the alterations have to be effected

before the reductions in cost are brought about The

rrensury officer estimates that the cost upon amalgamation would be f500 whether the Commonwealth or the

State took control that is to say the expenditure wouldlJe increased by that amount

104 You mean it would cost the Commonwealth f500

extra to do all the additional work which has to be done

H you took over you would only take over one roll but

if they took over they would take over two rollsW Theywould not listen to anything apart from the Assemblyrolls

10 5 B r the CHAIRMAN You would not say it

woulel onl cost fSOO extra under existing conditions

Considerable al1ditional expense would be involved in

making the houndaries co tellninous Yes

JOG No system of amalgamation would be nearlyso satisfactory as it would if the boundaries were made

eo teTlninous That is so

1 07 The estimates which have been prepared can

not lee reliahle whilst non c oterminous boundaries existbecause of the cost of making them eo tenninous It

is contemplated that existing legislative provisions will

go by the board and that both the boundaries and the

legislation are brought into line The figures are based

upon that assumption1U8 Bv Hon J CORNELL That f500 additional

expenditL1le would be entirely incorrect under existingconditions I do not know that it would It would be

a fair estimate from the State point of view except for

the initial cost of preparing plans You would have

an intricate set of plans to prepare and having pre

pared them from our point of view the estimate would

cover it

109 By Hon C G LATHAM Could you do the

Federal rolls for 50500 Yes

110 By the CHAIRMAN That would also mean

that when the rolls were printed for the eonvenlence of

the State or the Commonwealth owing to the imminence

of an election the additional cost would have to be

borne by eithel party Yes Every time the rolls were

printed the party requiring the printing would have

to pay111 By Hon rCORNELL ssuming that all the

difficulties of co terminous boundanes amI other matters

incidental thereto could be overcome do you think it

iVould be possible to give tangible effect to a rec m

mendation by the Commission before the next electlOn

in 1936 The State has 50 districts and the Common

wealth wonld have to be bound by those 50 districts and

in building up Commonwealth rolls you have to cut the

50 districts into five divisions wherea by th amalga

mation and the putting of the rolls mto theu res e

tive divisions it would be easier than puttmg the dIVI

sions into districts112 But do you think that a change over could be

effected in say five months No

113 By the CHAIRMAN Perhaps we ean ask Mr

Bandy whether he eonsiders that the Co monwealth

would agree to hand over theu electoral busmess to the

State114 Mr BA1JY I do not think they would

115 By Hall T CORNELL I think we ean dismiss

that matter altogether Assuming there was an amal

gamation it woulli be found that there wcre a lot of

excrescences tacked on to our Electoral Act for instance

the licensing laws and factories and shops legislation

Those Acts would have to be amended Yes

116 It would be the Commonwealth department s

job to do that I do not know whether the Common

wealth would be prepared to take over those depart

ments as well117 Whose job is it in Victoria South Australia

and Tasmania to compile the Council rolls1 In Vic

toria they are eompiled by the staff

118 What is the position in South Australia In

that State aurl Tasmania thel e are multiple electorates

119 By Mr HAWKE In South Australia the

boundaries do not coincide with the Federal boundaries

Almost Thev have the same number of divisions and

they build into those In Victor a the province rol s a e

eompiled from the ratepayers hst Mr Duncan m hIS

letter on overlapping and duplication says

Under the joint roll system in Victoria where

the population is very much greater than in West

ern Australia it has been possible to provide for all

State electoral work including work incidental to

maintaining a Legislative COUllCil roll being per

formed by an electoral officer one clerk anel one

typist120 By Hon T CORNELL Have you formed any

conclusion as to why one State in Australia that has not

a Legislative Council has not yet agreed to joint rolls

I do not know at all

121 The CHAIRMAN Perhaps Mr Bandy may

have some information on the subject

122 Mr BANDY I do not know what the reason

is I know that conferenees have taken place from time

to time but no headway appears to have been made and

Queensland has not been prepared to hand over to the

Commonwedth123 The WITNESS For the information of the

Commission I propose to submit the report of Mr Brod

ribb Treasury Inspector and also a letter from Mr

Duncan of Victoria to the Public Service Commissioner

of this State In this letter Mr Duncan draws atten

tion to the financial benefits that would accrue from an

amalgamation The Treasury Inspector s report is in

reply to that letter See Appendices A and B

ROBERT HENRY BANDY Commonwealth Electoral

Officer for Western Australia examined

124 The WITNESS With regard to costs there

seems to be some misapprehension I sav that because

Mr Gonlon quoted to you figures suppJi ed to him by an

official of the Treasury to the effect that the State ex

penditure amonnted to E3 040 and the Commonwealth

expenditure to 506 620 a difference of l3 580 It

appears to me that those figures represent purelyadministration costs In my opinion the questionthat shoul he before you is if the amalgamation is

agreec to what costs would the State be put to and

what costs would it be relieved of I regard those as

the two essential factors If you will give me permission I wouM like to read to vou from a communication

hy n former ehief Jh Ir vin who was Chief Elec

toral Officer of the Commonwealth to Mr J S Duncan

the Commonwealth Public Service Inspector of New

South Wales who was deputed to confer with Mr

Simpson your then Under Treasurer when he was last

in the East JIr Irwin note these particulars to Mr

Duncan I take it for the purpose of the conference

After dealing with many questions of law am so forth

he goes on to sayTn accordance with the usual practice the Com

monwealth electoral office is prepared to draft the

formal agreement joint regnlations instructions

forms etc for joint approval and generally to

eupervise the details of the intTOeluction of the pro

posed system including the preparation of the

technical descriptions of the boundaries of the sub

lliyisions maps etc Itwill be noted that under the

anangcment the whole cost of the joint system is

horne by the Commonwealth except a the printing and binding of joint electoral rolls and the

material therefor b the printing of books rolls

ani other printed matter used for joint clec

toral purposes and the material therefor and

c 1 special a11owances if any to individual policeofficers in the form of extra remuneration as may

12 agreed upon These costs are shared equally by

the Commonwealth and the State In practice no

special allowances have so far been paid in any

State to police officers The ap1loximate cost to

the State based on an annual reprint of the rolls

would be n 300 A reprint once in about 18 months

would usua11y meet the Commonwealth requirementsIf satisfactory to the State this would reduce the

cost to the State to about El OOO per annum

The ommunication goes on to deal with LegislativeCouncil rolls I do notknow whether you want to know

anything ahout that just at present125 The CHAIRMAN I think that phase is so far

outside the bounds of the possibilities of the immediate

present that we neeel not eonsider it Once having got

an amalgamation of the State and Commonwealth rolls

on the Legislative Assembly basis the other system

ould evolved in the course of time I think that is

sufficient126 Hon G FRASER Whilst we are considering

the amalgamation of the two ro11s it may assist us if

we have some evidence regarding Legislative Council rolls

for this reason that there will be an expenditure still

entailed if the Legislative Council ro11s are to be printedseparate If there is a proposition from the Com

monwealth Electoral Officer to include the Council rolls

lso the eost may he minimised127 VTTNESS I think I can definitely state that

Legishtive Council rulls in the States where there has

been f1mnlgamation are entirely separate from the Com

mOlnV0alth amalgamatiou128 Bv Hon T CORNELL ThiY must be it could

not be otherwisd Therefore it ould he a different

feature altogether in Western Australia

29 By Hon G FRASER They are still con

troller hy the States themselves Not actually fn

South Australia for instance un ler the direction of the

Chief Electoral Officer of the State the rolls are con

trolled by the Commonwealth Electoral Officer in South

Australia with a staff from the State office and the

salaries of that staff are paid by the State as also is the

cost of printing Legislative CO 1l1cil rolls

no By the CHAIRMAN So praetically the work

is lone by the Commolnealth Yes

131 By Mr HAWKE All the work is done in the

one ofliee Yes

B2 By Hon G FRASER So the only savinO

from the Legislaii Conncil aspect would be the hou

jng of tll section 9 Yes

133 By H 011 A THO 1S0N Ts there in any other

State a system under which Legislative Assembly anl

Legislative Council rolls ar amalgamated Would it

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Comft theIctiouslly to

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priutGd the

rollselecand

polices may

111 y byice 110

in anyost to

e rollsmonthsments

Ice theI

slativeknow

so farlediatelg goth rollssystemthat is

deringus if

il rollse stillrintedCom

il rolls

e thatre has

Com

t couldfferent

1 con

y n

of thee eon

Southld the

is the

work

in the

lavinghous

other

y andIlld it

hc 10 i111 to hrllC them amalgamated by elist nguishwith 11 terisk the names of electors enhtleel to

1

fl r t I Legi lative Coumil who are emboelied with

1 ntiH osen11 i e1eetors in one roll IVoulel tl erG

111 OTeat dimeu ty in bringing that system 111to

l i got 11cpenls on the qualificatio l So far as 1

an githl r frolJl the files that questIon has never

lJjwll up 1erh1 you may be under a mlsapprehenl

0 1118 the Victorian Legislative Assemblv an1 11 h

lectol nJl 1 hi 11m1 on two Tolls i he has a cel

tain l llalifie ltJOll that s he can have Ins name on the

roll for his plnce of resllence and agam If he lS a pro

ertv holller T osc names are specially notel by an

tCl k in the Comlllonwealth rolls I can produce suchis

n roll fOl y u if yon leslle to see those notatIons

104 I S wOJlc1ering whpther it would be IJl actlc

able to ndopt th t system hcre9 fhat does not refer

to the Upper House roll It refers to the Assemblyron

lJ i IVii the ai 1 of tsterisks as mentioned would

it be possible to have the TTpper Hou e roll anel the

Assemblv roll combined f There are hfferent qualIfications of course for the Uvper House

106 By Hon G FRASEI Generar speakmg the

Legislative Council roll is hot being llJl1eltaken y tJe

Commonwe lth under the amalgamatIon system No

That has been a differellr feature It is just being i 1

traduced in Victoria I understand South Austraha

has that system 111lcl so of course has Tasmallla

137 By Hon J CORNEIJIj As a matter of fact

in actna1 pratti e I presume each State has adopted a

joint As8c mbly and Commonwe alth Toll first Yes

138 Having worked on that the tate has ev ntu

allv endeavoured to merge the Councll 1011 nto It

Well into the control ot into the rolls Vlth regardto the ost if I may rlSUlne I cannot comment 01 the

totals gin n by vIr Gordon because they were not ltmn

ised t eannot give you any answer to them but I can

give you actual figures which obt ined at the last elec

tion and on the basis of those figures you wlll get a

fair idea of what the cost would be to the State lepartment There is this factor that as Tegards adm1l11stl a

tive costs if the fignres given by fr Gordon embrace

them different conditions obtain in the Commonwealth

inas uch as there are five divisional retull ling officeTs

am1 five clerks to the divisional returnmg officers

naturallv their salaries would take up the cost of ad

ministration There fire also certain Tegistr rs aJpointed outsir1c the offices of divisional l eturnmg offi

eels TheTe are a few now there were a great manysome years ago Ithas been the desire of the departmcnt to have the registration work done 11 he offices of

the divisional returning officers In the dIvlslon of Kal

goorlie wltieh is such a wide one and ineonv nient o

thc ejectors frolll the standpoint of fonvardlllg thell

daim canIs to one palticular address we have regls

trars in various centTes such as Moora Geraldton

and other places in the North IVest Those registrarsare paid a certain emolument as a retal1llng fee and a

CCJ tain amount per hundred notations the ma e on the

rolls That rather builds up the admull tratlVe costs

which however are necessalY rhese features do not

COe into the c st of amalgamation as you wi1lno doubt

hal e seen from the corresl ondence on the State files

Letters addressed to the Premier indicate that the onlycost to the State is along the lines I have already indi

eatCc1 Following on that naturally there would be the

question of the llesent officers in the State Elect ral

Department In other States they have been absorl e 111tO

the State service by the Public Service Comnl1sslOner

That therefore woulel beeome a question for your own

Public Serviee ommissioner to deal with in an endeav

our to absorh those officers into other branches of the

fitate sl ce Based on the last election the cost youwould have to share would be Printing the main roll in

HlH elist the Commonwealth E2 6 1 4s paid to the localGOlernmeut printer I do not know how that amount

wonhl compare dth the charge borne by your StateElectoral Depaltmcnt printing supplementary ro ls

f316 His hindinO offieial and copies of rolls for reglstrars fG3 45 biJ ding de intelleaved Tolls etc E10

S 3d printing hooks fmms ete f59 165 3d mak

ng a tot l of t3 Ofll 4s 6d That was tI e expenr1itmelneuld for that one veal If you agree as the author

ItJ S ha e in other Sta tes to have the rolls plinter1 everytwo yCaTS which would really mean that the second printWould be in ahout 18 months time that work would cost

7

You f2 631 4s the binding etc of the official rolls f634 binding ete of the interleaved rolls no 4s 3d

printing forms books etc for a further two yearsthat would double the cost of f59 16s 3d f119 12s 6dThat would bring the total expenditure up to f5 905

Hs 3d Ipread ol er a pc riod of three years that

would cost n96S ls Hd pel year and half the cost

of that to the Itate woulll be lO9S s lOd These are

al tnal figures based UpOll the printing of rolls bind

ill pr that Wl hUH just pai for n addition to

tkt Ou would be sa Cll the cost of postageJ3 By non C G LATHAM In those costs you

ha ve not p1oYided for the extra rolls that would be

necessary for tIle Statef I take it you mean the supplementary rolls

140 No Do you c1istrilmte as many rolls as the

It3lr Electoral Depil lulent distrilmteR now I do

not no bow man 1o

s the State llepartment dis

t1il utes We listribuh a lot of rollsHI By the CHAIRMAN Our statutory obligation

is to issue a dean roll at election time and supplemental rolls each six months In practice the obligationhas not been fully complied with on account of the ex

ppnsp ni oh ed It is the prJctil wbCn an eleetion is

due to kn C the alllalgamatecl roll prepared three or

foul months prior to the election and then to issue

prior to the eledion a supplenwntary roll including the

namCs of those who lJave been enrolled in the intervalThere seems to be an agreement in the other States

to print the rolls every two I Irs and supplementary rollsfor the purposes of State elections Of course that hasto be done also for Commonwealth elections It wouldbe lj essuJI to add that Cxpense to the figures I have

qnoted142 By Hon G FRASER The Commonwealth sup

plementary roll would be small compared with the rollfor the State Asselllbly Yes becanse we do not

have supplementary rolls nntil an election is approaching If there is an old supplementary roll prepared we

inl orporate that in the new supplementary roll which

may be necessary for the approaching election if no

principal roll has been prepared for publication in the

llwantillle Vith referenel to payments made bythe Commonwealth in certain instances we pay regia

trrs fol the performance of duties E130 and f62 9s1d to electoral agents The latter are generally postmasters or other reputable citizens in towns where there

are no registrars and they supply us with informatiollthat has to he obtained Also there is the allowance

pa l to postmen principally in the metropolitan area

and in KalgoorJie and Boulder This represents the

largest item we ha u to shoulder in connection with

the rolls other than t election time That is the means

bv which we secure information for enrolment purposesIhis costs f lS2 7s ill There are also conrt fees E3

Is miscellaneous expenses f10 making a total of f58815s 6e1 You are not asked to contribute towards thosepayments under the proposed amalgamation All JOuare askee1 to contribute are those costs that I have

already enumelated to you That is all outlined in the

agreements with other States which Iwill read to youlater on In Victoria the amalgamation took place in1924 in South Australia in 1921 in Tasmania in 1908nUll in New South IVales in 1930 The additionaI registrars we have apnoin ted are at JYlooraGeraldton Mt JYIagnet Meekatharra CarnarvonPort Hedlaue1 and Broome With regard to theCompulsory enrolment the Commonwealth will con

tinue to euforce the compulsory enrolment provisionsof the Commonwealth Eleetoral Act without expenseto the State the effect of which will be reflectediu the State nnrJer the joint roll and it will there

folC be unnececsgrv to operate the State compulsoryemolment laws In Victoria the average cost of printingthe joint roll every two years and the two supplementaryrolls every third year was E3 050 In South Australiathe present average annual eharge by the Commonwealthto the State on the same basis is fl 060 I would liketo read an extract from the South Anstralian Han

sard No 9 of 1924 dealing with the debate on theEleetoral Code Further Amendment Bill in the Legislative Council The Attorney General Hon W J Dennyiu the comse of his speech said

The Assembly Tolls were taken over by the Commonwealth in 1920 and have been since kept as part ofthe ioint roll The result has been entirely satisfactoryto the State which has obtained a mnch more com

plete and up to date roll than before while the aver

age annual saving to the State has been f1l47

Ithink that is a very important statement It was madeby a Minister of the Orown in connection with a proposal to take over the Legislative Oouncil roll in SouthAustralia The Attorney General made that definitestatement before Parliam nt and said that the arrangement has been entirely satisfactory and he admittedthat the annual saving to the 8tate had been over 1 200Regarding the question of sub divisional boundaries thatlean be dealt ith here as it has been in the EasternStates for the purposes of 3 joint roll I will give youa concrete illustration to show how the difficulty can bedealt with Of course the divisional boundary must beas Parliament decides from time to time The bOUndarybetween the Perth and Fremantle divisions runsthrongh the State district of Leedervine whichextends to N orfolk street on the eastern sideand then west of Fitzgerald street which is ourdivisional bOllnclar There is nothing to obviatethe Commonw8rrlth in having two subdivisions Onewould be in the division of Perth and the otherin the division of Fremantle If the divisional boundaries were altered then of course the subdivisional boundaries would have to be altered too We have had suchinstances in Victoria If the proposal with the Commonwealth were agreed to the mrrtter could be dealt withsatisfact olily You luive similar instances in WesternAust ralia under YOllr existing electoral laws There aretwo sub districts of the Mt Magnet electorate namelyMt Leonora and Mt Magnet If the proposed Commonwealth redistribution is approved the following Staterolls will be affected the Middle Swan electorate portion of which would be in the Guilclfold Commonwealthsubdivision and portion in the Maylands subdivision inthe Canning electorate portions would be in the Perth

FremantJe ilnd Swan Commonwealth divisions theNedlands electorate would be partly in the Subiaco andpartly in the West Subiaco Commonwealth subdivisionspart of the State Leederville eleetorate would be in theOommonwealth subdivisions of North Perth and Balkatta while portions of the West Perth electorate wouldbe in the Commonwealth subdivisions of Balkatta andWest Perth In the State you already have two subdistricts in one district therefore you could have thesame thing under the proposal with the Commonwealtheven if the boundary does run through them No difficu1ty has been experienced in the Eastern States regarding that phase

143 By Hon J CORNELL Iunderstand you to S3Ythat no difficulty would be experienced in making eletoral distrlets of the State subdivisions for Commonwealth electoral purposes and in effect State divisionswould become Federal subdivisions1 Yes I think soin nearly every instance I produce a copy of the agreement dated the 13th February 1930 between New SouthWales and the Commonwealth See Appendix C

144 By Hon oJ CORNELL That is the most reocent agreement1 Yes I also ha e a copy of theVictorian agreement which is praetically the same

145 Bv Hon A THOMSON Is the VictorianLegislative Counei elected under different conditions

Yes I have been dealing with the amalgamationof Assembly rolls only A census was taken in JunC1933 and revealed that there were 234 000 males and201 948 females a total population of 438 948 for theState The enrolment at that time vas 227 864 Ihave not got particulars of the number of a lults inthe population The figures are not yot aYailable fromthe statistician 1he ommonwealth Statistician hasat all times used the divisor of two into the population to ascertain approximately the proportion ofadults If you livide 438 948 by two you get 2 9 474a discrepancy of 8 390 Of C0111SC you are assumingthat the figure 2 is correct hat may account forthe differenc e

146 By the CHAIRlIfAK Jt is usual to estimatethat one half of the population are rrdults ane onehalf are perSO lS under the age of 211 Yes If oudivide the electoral enrolment bv two YO 1 get thoapproximate number of habitatiolls in the 8tate

147 By Hon C G LATHAlfHan you the plectoral figures for the same periodI have the figurcsfor the 1934 election as follow

Division EnrolledForrest 4i5 42Fremantle 53 i584

Kalgoorlie 38 238Perth 45 422Swan 58 436

Voted41 809

50 31230 841 85952 953

Totals 241 103 2 7 788

The percentage for the State was 90 In 1931 thepereentagp fol the State wns 910 The deJE ase intl pereentnge in 1934 was clue I think to the factthat in fl11 1 Greel was opposed for the KalgoorlieDivision Last year he wao not opposed Vhen theIJi i i Jn 1 Retuming Ollie1 challenged electors for notvoting InnlJ replie YerE rerf ivpd that thevvere uuderthe iJll PSSI011 llO yotillg was required as Mr Greenwas Hot oppoSld

J4 h IIOn A T OMU The fa rly largepertentag of eleetors who voted is attributed by youto o pulsol voting Yes140 hat wen the pereentages previous to theint1o ludiolJ of l ollj1ulso1 v oting i Compulsory vating was given effeet to in 1925 The percentages forthe V I ious elections were as follow

Year Australi J estern Australia101 1 7111917 7 OIJ 7S 24Hl1 n 713n j Ll1 n22 n 3 49 l

HI 11 0 8ll 72HI2S ll 4 91 7119 9 t 8 89 031931 ll5 04 ll15 I

Thns ll1 per pnt mav he rpgarderl as a fair anJragefor esten A ustralin l1lHlceJmpulsory voting I0 not know anvthinabout i llsing requirementsbut I hIke it that if the amalgamation were agreed tothe starf employed lw the Btat Electoral OI11e wouldtjl lf to the Leg is1atie ollllil rolls and to thelicensing work Licensing work and other specialfeatures have ot beel refene to in the file iJ mypossession so I do not know whether they were discussedV O Rv the CHA TRL N The Sta te or CommonweaHl 011 would be used for a lie8l1si1 g poll but thehounr nnes WOU I have to 1 ildelnJilled and the rollwould han t o be segregateel to a sc rtaill who wouldbe competent to sign pctitirJs To rIo that w01l1el notbe diricult 9 No151 Bv Hall G FRASER You thiJ k it would 1101he undertaken by the C0Jl111l0nwealth No reference ismarle on thp file of ioint rolls or amalgamation5 By Hon J CORNELL Mr Gordon told theCommission that in fi c of the StatAs elections were heldon tlJe basis of one vote one value for the LegislativeAssemhl Assuming the State electorates were to be

come Commonwealth subdivisions would that be detrimentHl to working the thing out The ivisions c10 notcome illto the matter Ve ask vou to ignorc them andto J eoglli E ublivisions but at the sRlnc tinle to recoOni e didsional houndaries where thev cross subdivision1 3 By the CHAIR fAJMore subdivisions are put11l for the sake of convenience You had subdivisionsat Derby Wyndham and Broome for that reasonTher is nothing t o prevent us from making one rollfor fom places and splitting them into as many as isdesir ec The Minister has power to approve of anysuhc1 v SlOnal boundary but the 110unclaries of divisionsare different

154 ihere your divisions and your electorates arenot coterminous you propose to break up your subdivisions illtn smaller rolls Yes155 By Hon G FRASER There is no reason whvan elec nr3l district should not lJe elivirlec1 into sub ditriets No1 6 By the CHAIRIA What procedme wasadopteel to meet the wishes of the conference which resnlted in the agreement of New South Wales and the

Commonwealth What steps wonld l e taken to gainsufficient information for the purpose of drawing upan agreemPJlt for each of the respective parties I donot know vhat occurreel in New South Vales I knowthat a request was mnrIe by Ilr Duncan of New SouthWales for a conference

57 B Hon T CORELL The New South Walesarrangement as maele before the Premiers Plan wasdiscussed I understand so1i8 By the CHAIRMAN What is the practice of

your department with regard to the compulsory enrolment sections anel prosecutions 1 Compulsory enrolment always goes onoll Is tbe law rigidllIelministered Always We

se1lom have to reseJt to police courts160 Do ou think the present sy tem should be continued Yes Fhe Commonwealth electoral ofllcer has

power to impose a penalty For non enrolment the pena lty gJ erallimposed for a first offence is 2s 6d andfor not voting it is a minimum of IDs The adjudication mllst be with the consent of the elector

16to aJ

hreae

C 1Sf

i

heil111rr

fii1 0

supplanilinitircostperscmen

andare

rec o

pntrireceiRCCOIrease

are j

all tl

thissons

tinleposeeomfc ognel in

them

qnireit issubnpros

16

ascel

infOJ01 8

the

Ctheaftenotwhircard

goor16

gues16

311 l 0

lfi

postnew

fortaratheTheringdist

lE

politto jl

is P

Hthc

maywe

nam

forndresginrem

is n

in 1

uf

CUlT

I

son18S

qual

thedo

n 193 the1 elrpase into the fact

e FalgoorlieWhen the

tors for notwere underMr Green

irlv largeted b YOt

OllS to thelso1Y vot

entages for

II Anstla ia7J1l1S 3l

j LJ 2t9 f

R9 72DI 4SD 03115f1

IiI a vpragevoting Illircmentsagreed to

flieD youldnd to theIeI specialfile ill JOY

were dia

COllll110nI but theId the roll

ho wouldwoula not

would noteference ison

n told thewere held

Legisla tiveere to be

be detr1ns do not

them andJ to reco15bdiyisionsns are putI bdivisionsreason

one rolllany as ise of anydivisions

Jlates are

l subdivi

lason whyo sub dis

dure was

which re

and theI to gain

1 ing upesr I do

I knowew South

Ith WalesPlan was

actiee ofry enroly enrol

3 ys We

1 be ron

ficer hasthe pen6d and

adjudiea

61 By Hall C G LATHAM If a p rsoJ refuses1wer a departmental l11quJrJ he 1S habl for a

to ansf tl p ct for failure to nplv That IS l11 the

hreach 0 L

f 10t yotmgc l e6 B Hon G FRASER Il th8 caRe of nnre y

recei ed ill eOUlledlOn I h non enrolmenl 01he1l1g

J 1 snmmnus Last vear we SPE lt t38 ismere lS

f1 0 1 postlllen ana f6 19s ld on eleetor a ents or

DCIg information per medlUlll of hab1t lt1on eards

supp lt1nrleavec1 rolls to enable us to proerc l with theallr III c

1 7 th tt I prosecutions for non enro ment V t Ole a

1111 W1 1 e tl

t Ve write on the hahltatlOll carc s t 1e names 0 1ecas

s who are enroed at a certain time Th postperson I t tl 1take these eartls WIth 11em V1S1 e lOusesmen

f t flI rand get the necessary m onna 1On 01 wHe nev

idr Thev are Commonwealth oflicwls It 1S allre Pded in black and white vVe have a record of the

1 eeolffi d Ucntrit S and the inibals f the 0 eelS enncerne pon

pt of the infor111a hon we eheck 1t up and payrerel1 k 1 1 ft 1accordingly On he earc 1S mar ec e e

reased or marlled as the ease may be If personsare found who are quahfiel to be enrolled and are not

on the card their nal CS are ente ed on yellow eards Bythis n10ans we obtalJl mformab011 w th regard to per

sons who are not on the 1011 If wlthm a reasonable

time such persons do not furmsh claJlll cards for th purnose of being enrolled we take the neeessary aetlOn to

ompel them to do so Althou h it is not officially re

cognised it has beeu the prarhce of postmen to lc ve

rlaim eards for persons who are 1 0 enroneel to glvethem advice nnrl an emelope eontallung the p llltec1 re

quirements of the law The persons are adVlsecl thatit is necessary for them to complete the clalll1 cards and

submit them to the c1epartment otherwise they will beproseeuted

163 You hHve a check by means of which YOIl can

ascertain that the cnls have been left Yes We have

information that the c ards have been left with the perom to whom I refer The postmnn pnts in front of

the name on tllE left hand eorner of the card the lettere to show that the eard has been left Of CO1rse

the law requires that the elector himself should lookafter his own enrolment If the persons eoncerned donot act on the advice given to them we issue Form 12

which is the departmental fUmmons These habitationcards are used only in the metropolitan area and at Knl

goorlie and Boulder164 Bv Hon C G LATHAM A fair amount of

guessing ust be inc1nlged in No165 How is it known that a person is entitled to be

lnrolled The necessal inquhies are made at the door

166 What happens in the case of new houses r The

postman receives an additional payment in the case ofnew houses because he is paid for the house as W2 as

for the persons in it With regard to the work of electoral agents that is carried out by postmasters inthe various districts or other persons who aJ e selectedThey are paid on information supplied I am 110W referring to the interleayed rnlls which are usec1 in variousdistricts

16i Vhat happens if one of these officers becomes apol tiral agenU If that is reported to us we would haveto Judge whether he was a partisan or not

168 You woulrl take him off the job If the caseIS proved we may ha e to do so

169 Bv HClll G l RASER You have a hold overthese oflieers if they miss anythingr Yes One of themmay miss a house altogether Before WE take any action

e go through the whole subdivision Ve sort all thenames into lexico graphical order before the S1mmonsforms are issued Vhen pe180n8 change their addess frem one part of a subdivision to another they are

gIVen a chance to put themselves right If an electorremoves to another address in the same subdivision hcis not deprived of the right to vote hut is given time111 vllJ h to comply with the law A tremendous amountof olk is involved in chasing up electors who are notconectly enrolled on the su1livisional rolis

170 By Hon C G LATHAM What about a pero going from one ele to ate to a o h r lhe elector13 to reslle one lllontn 1Il a subchVlslOn before he ISqualified

tl17 By Hon G IRASER Froy lsion is made 111

Ie State rolls for a person 110 is a nomad Vhatdo you rIo in respect of Buh a pe so n S Do you enrol

9

him for the place where he is actually at the timellis plac of living hen CjualJfied

Jf there an Jlo isioll 11l Ulc fu llU111ber of

m1l lhOSl 1101110 is Say clt Frelllantlt alld who 11 l

tnIYl Jl llg in Yainn Pllts of the t lt Do yon proidt fen thelll to r t tin tht ir qualitit ltioll 110 1

il12 to rl t l lllllle the p ne of Ijill6 1 hillk 1

ic1nr i the pcr oll to ietl rlllilll that It lS a dllll

tult r that yilj allYs ari F a o dcnnicllp l a

hBl i th ng tu ef billlsh If 011 l hargt a lIBll nth

failing to lIrol at his p1 II of li ing vou haY to

pro l tllnt that is his residelllC lUlU lllay sayto tlH minES It L onola nlld he nla

r

ICl Vt1 Vlit all

fa1llil dOWll here Jj Crlnnihnts to th upkp of

his famil a1I natnrally L would sa that where hIS

tamilv Ji ed sueh was his place of residence because he

hls a fixed illtPHt jOll of J l tulllilJg to that l vsidl Jle

178 So tllere is no 1il1 1eI1l e adually iu the ill

tr r I1 etation by the two edoral oiliees i So far as

1 an Sel 11 o

7 E the CILAllnIA A l l Jt lin nllmiwr ofnlell go to Vynt1l1alll irom dOWll he1e l aeh yenrYes aurl D good mauof tl1eJl c 1c to ret llll h 11

lWIlles on the ro rlown he1 e alld the ote 1t Illlham l ahsellt Cltns fur th snhdi ision ill wbicltthey reside If tbose electors haw a fixed intentionof

L

l tullliJJg We have no lght tu lodgc an ohJCe t Oll

anllJJst tl1eir naIlleS If they HL Sil 21l 1l1l l1 and gof O 111 lJlaeJ to plu e tlH n of t O1l f 1 anllc1t saythat their first place of living is still thell plaee of

residell e

17 B HOll U jlLSI U If Lit aq rage mall

who goes t Vynrlham hose Vnlhalll as his fixeraborle fothe time h ill thel1 in thllt case he woulrlretain his q1alification for vYync1ham l Yes but hewould lose his right of enrolment there if he had anyintcll tluu of l etnrn iEg to sn Frelllall tic The intellbon to 1etUill to bis former hOllle is the governingfndor of elllolll1ent The Jector himself dekllllines

his pilec of hyillgG Bv dr W1SE How o vou che k comji1 sor

l llrolmcnt ill slaltered plates Ifauy mln do not re

e e comlllunilations tlllOllgh the post oflie e

me face1 with tllat iJiffiellity in a hll e State lib

Vestern Australil1 The onlv means we have of ob

taining the information is at election time or throllgllan eee1ora llgent If the agent dol S not s1pply ns

yith that information we have no llleans of getting it

177 By the CHAIRMAN There are many men

seattered a oYel the North I est who go from onl

station to another how wonld they be fixed seeingthat tlle miht wa ndr from one e eetorate to

lnothelIf l llae lefinite information tllat theyhaTe gone from oue elector te to nuotllcr we haVI

the right to object to their names If we tio notl llO V yhere they haye gone Ve In only assnnle fllldwe haTe a perfed right to aSSlme that they ha e

gone pelluanentlYi then l11tcr l month we hae the

right to lodge au objectlm78 Bv HOll G FIL SER In the metropolitan

arcn yon throw 011 hotel keepers or boarding hollsekeepers the onus of supplying the names of permanentreside1lts in their cstaiJlishnlJlts do YOll adopt a

similar system with garcl to stat ons in tlle 1ortllIVest reejlliring the manageof a station to f1lnislt

on with a i t of those employed hy him iJli ing 011

the lroperty Xot to my knowler g So long thelec roral age lits lrc doing sornethillg to put JJaliiPS 011

the rolls Ye do not inCjuire into tJje methods tl ev

a lopt9 By lIolor COR1ELL Ill l1letllods 11

adopt to finrl out things are ml1ch in commol1 ith

thofollowerl b 1he Stati tidan garling the OS1

of li ing He ta kes a lot on trnst just as on doYon 11a e to do that in the far distallt places

SO By tll CHA IRIAN What action do YlJll

take with l ean to the enro ment of persons of 11 1fblood Do YO1 gi e people of half blood the right tohe el1l oilec1 On that snhjed r hn e arl iee 111datcr HID Tt yas gi en by Sir Robnt Ganan whnwas then feeretarv to thc Attorney Gener l s rleJHlItment and it as supported by Sir Isaitc JEaacos Itsays

fr Attorney General Deakin ar iserl 011 th2Jst August J 001 Half eRstes are not ahnJ iinal 11ati cs within the nwanil1g of section J27

of the Constitution Recommend to advise thathalf castes 1Ie not disqualified hut that all pOl

sons in Vd10nJ aboriginal b100r1 prepondr rates ll

disqualifiedSir Tsaac Isaac onllllnt Wits This is 1l ilSOl131de

anel should he followel You i11 agrec that tllerrare not mnnof thosc ill this State who an Jualif1effor lnrobllent

181 Unfortunately there aref When I say qualified let me quality that Hn e thp the ommOll

sense to secure l llrnlmCllt There arc yery few tllat

I know of and therr is lro record to show how mallV

thcrc are n the roll at the present timc Of eOllrse

each ease must be rlealt with on its merits e make

proper inquiries lwfore we enrol illY person

182 What would be the dominating qualificationfPredominance of white blood There cannot be half andhalf

183 There are a number of half castes in this Stabwho are thc offspring of white men living with or mar

rierl to ahoriginnl women In many cases chilrlren have

been taken to missions and edurnted there Then thehave gone to various parts of the State and have

hecome citizens to the extent of owning land iI SCllne in

stances and paying taxes and iudeed behaving as ordinary white citizens What would you determine with rc

gard to such people We would have to make inquiriesand come to a decision as to the predominance of whiteblood

18 There cannot be a predominance if they arc definitely half black and half white No

185 Bv Mr McDONALD Arc thev excluded if th8v

are half and halH I should say that ti e best plan woulllbo to get a certificate from the Chief Inspector of Abor

igines who probably would know whether the half casteshad been educated at mission stations whether they were

intelligent cnough anl really whethel they were actuallyhalf and half blood

186 By the CHAIRMAN This position does not

arisc in tile Eastern States For instance in Tasmalll

tlie last aboriginal die l 40 years ago There are very few

11 Nell South Wales but in Western Australia there are

manv I lare sav Ir Latham could tell vou that betweei York and say Bruce Rock there are between 300and 400 while Mr Thomson could tell you that betVc en

Beverleancl Katanning if he were given suffieient in

centive he could dig out about 1 000 aborigines and per

haps half of them arlults and a great numh2r of themhdf castes I shonll sav that a lot of those would be

IEac1ing the life of oTCli ary eitizens Sueh a posihonoulcl arise in Vestern Australia only and has bEcome

a problem here The general practice is when it is a

ease of half and half to give predominance to the maleclltl one can go further by going to the male father

387 Bv Hon J CORNELI fllat is to s l if themale 8 father is a white Yes of course

188 Bv Mr McDO ALD You th lk that is the

g81 eral plaetice hnt the opinion whicb you read to the

Commission does not deal with the quest on of half andhalf at all but vith predominance Yes Where are

we to obtain the predominance from Tlwt is the point189 ByNIr WISE You realJy adjudicate in every

case The divisional returning officers do If there is

anv doubt in their mind they refer the matter to me

ancl if I have any loubt I refer it to the Clown L w

Depa rtment The practice generally folJowed IS to takemale to male

HiO In this State there are eertain half castes andthree quarter bloods ho are exempt from the provisionsof the Aborigines Act that is to S1ly they have the

standing of a white person At the moment they do not

appear on the State roll Would you suggest that that

woulcl he a good ay to keep a eheck Do they complywith this eleeision of the Federal Attorne GeneraH

191 No The may be half and half but due to

their standard of hving luel their work they are exelDptfrom the provisious of tl18 Aborigines Act They are

allowed to own lanel for instance I see

192 By the CHAIRjIAN Theil mode of living toois taken iilto considera tion If they consort with abor

iginals they are clasoed as ahoriginals If they consortwith white people all tlle time they are classed as white

people Hae you a ful record of half castes herd

193 We have 110 r8eorcl from an electoral stand

poinU Has the Chi f Protector of Aboriginesf194 Yes He has a record of all persons whom l1e

consirlers orthy of a eertificate of exemptionf But it

floes not necessarily follow that if they have a certifi

10

cate of exemption theT are half castes The aboriginalhloocl ma predominate

194A B Eon J CORKELL WilJ you give us

S0111e idea of your relative power as Commonwealth Electoral Offleer for Western Australia to whom you are respo11sihle IOW vou are responsihle and how yoU are

limited in exi1endituref I am granted allthoritymy Cluef to spencl a certain amount monthly Some

1tems of expencliture that come before me represent more than my monthly limit of expenditure I haveto pass them on for approval The divisional returningofficers also are paid eertain advances for administratiYe 11uposes ancl from time to time they are rei111hursed through me by the Commonwealth Sl h Treasurywhieh controls all finaneial accounts At head office Wef rutinise a11 items of expenditure and paymentof accounts At eledion times it is a differentmatter anrl returning officers receive election advaneesthat varY in amount necordillg to tlw cost of handling11ollot papers aJll boxps and of election matters geneIall

195 By HOll C G LATHA I How ahout the costof printi1 g the rolls7 Payment for that is subject toMinisterial authority 011 reeeipt of whieh I pay theGovernment Printer That woulcl be quite apart fromthe advance I reeeiw whidl is purel for administratlVe costs

196 By Hon J CORNELL Are you empoweredto cleal with any demand for emergeney expenditurea bove your monthly allowanee No

197 Arc the dhisional officers responsible to youYes

198 You are responsible to the Chief Electoral Offieel far the Commonwealth who in turn is responsibleto bis Ministed Yes

199 Havc you any security of tenure in your officeI have the usual security under the Public Service

Act and regulations200 In other wo1s you have to do what your Min

ister tells you 7 1 should say the Chief Electoral OffieeTHe directs me

201 By Hon G FRASER You have protectionunder the Publie Serviee regulations Yes

202 The Minister could not dismiss vou No Aboard of inquiry would be necessary I ould want toknow the reason whv

203 By Hon J CORKELL The question of enrolments is in your handsf Not wholly The divisionalreturning officers and the eleetoral registrars haye statu

tory obligations If the Registrar is not satisfied thatthe claimant is entitled to be enrolled he must refer tbematter to tlle Divisional Returning Offieer for decisionrhe latter mmt make inquiry and decide the case In

some instances eases are submitted to me for adyiee butthe Divisional Retmning Officer must decide the matterThe latter must communicate with the Registrar who

notifies the elector The elector vithin one ealendarmonth after the receipt of the notification may appealto a court of summary jurisdiction for an order directing that his name be ailded to the roll

204 By Hon G FRASER If there should be anyamalgamation of the rolls the claim card recognisedwould be tbe Commonwealth claim card 1 Yes

205 By Hon J CORtiELL Sinee we have had com

pulsory enrolment here it has been tbe practice of electoral agents representing candidates to visit houses andcnrol eledors IVe have no such officers I presumeyou are referring to eanvassers

206 That is so 1hese eanvassers interview peopleanrl get their claim eaTCls signed promising to send the

c ards to the Electoral Office If they consider the elector vill not vote for their particular eandic1ate the can

vassers do not encl the canIs in at all Have YOU known

of such instances ot a single such instanc has been

brought uncler my notiee officially ancI I have had over

20 years experience in electoTal administration207 No elector has reported to you that another man

took his eard and promised to submit it to the ElectoralOffiee but failer to do sof No

208 It has been asserted that there have been thous

ands af sueh instances in estern Australia and one

proposal submitted has been that canvassers should givereceipt for tire claim eals so taken hy them No pro

ision for that exists uncler the Fecleral law No I

should achise against any such practice or the issueof any acknowledgment l y other than a reeognised elec

toral 0

woulditv an

j igistring elfis eligrolIIlensoon n

regarl

gatiollclaimson cr

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wouldance I

ment209

clays1

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210

dnpli21

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ment

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cardbeen

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2

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118

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1 official If you were to adopt such a 5cheme 7 U

torala release the ejector from hIS statutory responslbllvou d t l certain extent would release the electo ralIty atn of rom their responsibilities Under the eXIstreglS r31s

h0 electoral law an elector IS reSluuecL as soon as e

n

ligible to submit a clam1 caril m order to secure enlS e

nt He has to see tlmt he IS correctly emolleil asrolmeI e is qualified That is a strong factor As

soon s tll1G electoral registrars it is a 8tatutory obliegatS 1 t I

1t correctly register the person who su ml s llS

gat ll

ca d and to send an acknowledgment to the perdaler eil If you were to give any other personson conc

il I tl k tOnsibilitv of sending in dalm car s un 1the respI tlil be verY unsatlsfactory For lnstance w1a assurwou

h e u that the person giving the acknowleilgauce a I0 N h tment would sign Ins own nam I one a ever

209 Has it been your expenence that III the last f w

davs before the closing of the rolls hundreds of claIm

d e llbmitted to you Yes that has been the exeaT s al

1 trience on many occa ions No doubt th at IS cue 0pe

0 of the politlcal agents who deSIre to securethe enellm ent of persons who mav be qualified at thatthe euro

1articular time Naturally we cannot Issue ac dIOp

t o er the counter 1I1 such clTcumstances beledgmen sII

lause the onliuary inquiries and busmess wou r pre

clude that from being done

210 Naturally you check the 11ames and do not allow

duplications That is so

211 In putting my questlOn to you I onutted to

t t that it was mainlv in eonnectlOn WIth the LegISs ae c

dolative Council enrolments that these Instances oceurre

That would not form part of our dulIes at present212 Hon A THOMSON With compulsory cnrol

incnt shoulil pairl eanvassers be penmtted to undertaketo get people on the roU

213 By HrlD C G LATHAM Once you ge a

card you vould not prosecute the person for not havmgbeen on the roll before No we take actIOn only on

information supplied by our system214 By Mr WISE Do not you use an up to date

State roll in order to traee electors who have failed to

enrol for the Commonwealth No we never use theState roll

215 Bv Hon G FRASER It struck me that theState roll printed previous to the last State election hadbeen used hI the Commonwealth because a number of

persons who received blue papers for not being on the

Commonwealth roll were people who had been enrolledfor the State by me We looked at the supplementaryroll and made a comparison but principally in those districts where we could not get all the information wedesired We have the right to use all resources

216 Bv Hon T CORNELL Do you think thatcompulsory voting in Federal elections has been a success It depends upon what you mean by a success Asregards the percentage of lectors voting to enrolmentsI have proved the success of the system by the figuresalready quoted

217 Do vou think that compulsory voting is generally accepter by the community as a whole Yes

218 Do vou think it would he advantageous for theState to ac10pt it Yes I think the percentage ofoters at vour 1933 referendum proved that From the

fignres it 1USt he concluded that compulsory voting hash en effective

219 At one time YOU had postal voting for the ComlU nwealth Many ears ago It was abolished andremtroduced later

220 Do you think that the applicatioll of compulsory voting has compensatec1 for losses resulting fromthe abolition of postal voting At the time we first hadPostal voting there was no compulsory voting and it wasgo as vou please whether one voted or not The percentage of electors who voted was very small which showedthat the methods of voting and the desire to vote wereVPry small as compared with the results achiev ed undercompulsory voting

221 The fine is the incentive to vote I would notsay that I think it is safe to say that many of thee ectors have been educated to the need for taking aclOsel intel0st in their State

222 By Hon C G LATHAM Plus a little pressure by the law Perhaps so Wireless has provopd an

l

important factor Tt is a great advertising medium awlan important means of assisting candidates to air theiriews With advanced education and advanced methodsI think the ej ectors are now more conversant with reo

fjuirements than they were heretofore

223 By the GHA TRMAN Do vou think that yomSystel of nhsentfe ancl postal YOti g has heen reason

al effeetiye Yes224 BvMI feDONALD Do yon think your present

system o posta I voting outsirle the e1ectOl Ute is iab eto lead to duplicate voting1 No The absent voter IS

required to sign a deelaration fhat he is the elector coneerned and is 1ualificd to ote uJl ler absentee provision3He signs the declaration in the presence of a presidingofficial who is a paid officer for that day The declaration is witnesserl lw the officinl In turn it goes to thedivisional returning officer presiding over the divisiou inwhich the elector is enrolled He cheeks the rleclarationto ascertain whether it is correct If it is not eOTlectit is rejected at the prPliminary scrutiny The next phasei s to check the elector s nflme and enrolment to ascertainwhether he is enrolled If he is he is given the credit ofenrolment and marked on a certified list as an absentvoter ViThen all voting bas been recorcled a com

parison of all c ertifiecl lists used in the State is maclin the office of the divisional returning officer Those arethe meflns adopted to ascertain whether there has been

Ilndual voting ancl we have not yet proved one case

22 Hon J CORNELL That bears out my con

tention that taking things hy and large the eleetor isfairly honest

226 By Hon C G LATHAM Have you any knowlerlge of the postal voting system as it affects theXorth West Our system applies throughout the COlllmonwealth

227 Have ou received complaints regarding yourpostal voting system No but it follows that in a Statlike iTestern Australia where you have so many remoteplaces with only a monthly or bi monthly mail youcannot get a postal vote to a person with only 20 daysfrom the elate of nomination to the date of polling Ifa person has to make an application there is no time todo it III the Northerll Territory provision is macleto meet such cases In subdivisions of the NorthelllTerritory such as Alice Springs ancl Bachelor the re

tU1llillg officer Ot assistant returning officer wherethere is no prescribed polling place in the subdivisiollposts to the elector a certificated envel ope and bllotpaper The elector is required to sign the envelopein the presence of a prescribed authoris witness lIeyates in the presellee of the authoriscel witness ellrJoses the paper ancI posts it to the elivisional retllTlling officer No application is required on the part ofthe voter The law prescribes that the returningoffic er or assistant retullling officer shall clo that

228 No attempt has been made to do that in theKimberleys Not so far

229 Bv Hon T CORNELL Where is that provisian made In the Northern Territory Act 1922 25230 By Hon C G LATHAnI The representati e

of the Northem Territory has not n vote in tlIe HouReof Representatives But he has to be elected

231 By Mr MeDONALD What would be thenature of authol ised witnesses who have to witnesssuch votes They are prescribed by regulation whichreacls

96 1 Subject to thc next suceeding subregulation the following persons shall he authorised witllcsses within the meaning of theseRegulations

The Returning Officer for the Territorv theAssistant R turning Officer for a Subdivisionof the Territory the Electoral Registrar fora Subdivision of the Territory all postmasters and postmistresses or postal offi i lsin charge of post offices and all mail ontractors carrying mails in the Territory all

magistrates and iustires of the peaee of tTerritory all adult teachers in the employmentof the Territory all offieers of the Department of Trade and CuStOIllS stationed inthe Tel1 itory all 111ell1belS of the pol iforce of the Territory all officers in charge oflighthouses and all assistant lighthouse keep

rs all lEgal I qualified me liea practitionersIractisill in tLl Territory all ollieers ill

charge ut teleI II statiolls in tile Territoryall telegraph line repairpr I nnanelltly pnl

p oved in tile l cll itor who Jre in charge ofyolkill pal tjl all railwa statioll lnastl rs

allfl llig ht OJTit 81S JJ lulrg Hlld all 1 1

lIl lllellt way inslCltors and roadmastcrs who

lre P rlll lIlell1ly employed ill the raihy

servi e in the Territory all sn1yur8 in

harge of SlllVey eftlllps in the Territory a11oI1ieers ill Clwrge of well borillg parties in thl

Territory all mana gel s of expcrilll cntal

fallns in the Territory all CngillCPlS ae

tOnntallts nlld hnlekecpers t llgag lc1 Ol rail

W 1V COl1 tlUvtiOll vork ill tIll Tcn itorYi all

pullhe tcleplHH10 kn91Jels lllillmanagersstation In U l l crs Ulhl station O ClSeers em

I loed in the Tell itory all persons ill

harge of nddsiOll stations and an 1111ssionlli s at J1 is iJn stations in tllf rperrittJr i illHtwh r all c edor is ill a Stntc ill those 1er

sons vho arc ll1thorislcl Vitlle s s Y itllin th111LaIiing of 8llrtlon SO of the COl1lJllOlJ ye lltlJ1 18dol 11 Ad

2 No persoH 110 is a lll l datc at all 1

tion 1all 1 In anC llrised witness 1t that eJec

tion

232 By Hon G FHASEH Vhat allOut a place likeBalladoni l Thple is a lllonthlY mail there and we alsoIw e a polling 11 8 thpre now The cost of that polling place is llistribllted over the whole State

12

233 By thi CHAmMAN Shat provision exists fora person to east a postal yok anYIy e ill the North1est IS1 person definite c1ebalTpc1 h the opera

tion of your system A postal vote can only be arrangedI apllieatiull Such applieation must be made to thel e n t liy sionai rctlllning officcr The result all de

IfIHls 011 the 111 sCn jee

204 The applieatiou of the principle has debarred

many people from oting That is pyident hy the distauees in 17 estelllAustralia

23 By Hon G FRASER hat was the percentage of thosp W 1O yote 1 in the last election for the Kal

Toorlie are1 ln ID n in the Kalgoorlie division thepenentflgc was 86 33 but in the iast election it was

only 80 WI en a lhvision is not eontestell in the Houseof Representatives it seems tD be a factor in the proportion of clettors dill record their votes for the Senate In ID31 the number of eleeton on that 1 0 was

31 932 and now it is 38 238236 Bv Hm J CORNELI Is the Commonwealth

Eleetoral Dppnrtment a separate and distinct department with Ureet ess to the Minister No It iscontrolled from the DeTJartment of the Interior and that

department is Hllministered by the secretary nnd othersThe secretaruJllfers witI the Minister and I shouldsay on1cl cail in the Chid Eleetoral Officer when neces

sa 7 1 8 Jlinister the secretary and the Chief Electoral Offi er He all at CanbelTa The Chief ElectoralOffieer would no doubt have to advise the Minister andthe secretary on certain points

The Commission acljoIl1 ncil

VEDNESDAY 20th FEBRUARY 1935

PresentHon J C Willcock ML A

Hon J Cornell JLL C

Hon G Fraser M L ClIon A Thomson M LC

A R G Hawke Esq MLA

ChairmanHon C G Latham MLAR R McDonald Esq M LAJ J S Wise Esq JYLL A

HAROLD RICHARD GORDON further examined

2 7 The YITN ESS have prepared the foowing

tat lllntRe propospd amen lml llts to EleetOlal Ad 1901 21

The amendments submitted for consideration deal

mainlY with the p1 o isions connected with the enrol

ment of electors and postal votingIT nder the existing Act the enTolment of electors is

govcrned h S tion 45 whel hy eleetors elall1l enrolment awl then cJ 11ms remam In the hands of the

reqistral for lcl iCl of 14 days blfol e enrolment

is ffected It is suggested that tlle 14 dRYS delay in

enrolling claims shonld be done aw y Wlth an l that

all claims should bc el1lol1ed forthWIth thus hnngIugthis State into line with a11 other States and the Com

monwcalth To effect tllis end it will be necessary

to amend Section 3 of the present Act by de etingundeT PDrt nI Division 4 Objections 1 To

claims This arncIllment ould follow upon the amendment of Sedion 4 and tIle repeal of Section 46 the

latter section providing for objections within the peri d

of 4 lays after the claims are recClved by the regIStrar

A search of the Statutes of the Commonwealth andother States discloses that in four cases enrolment is

forthwith and tlll sections are quoted for your information

CommonwaJth 3ection 43jew South Wales Section 35

Victoria Seetion 163Ta mania Section 32

In dealing with Section 3 of the present Act it willof course be necessary to keep in mind the fact that

Sections 45 and 46 wiH be amended and repealed re

spectivelyUnder Section 4 which contains the interpretations

appears Eleetoral CensusIn view of Section 44 a it is not now possible to

have an electoral censns and at the same time insistupon the compulsOTY proYisions with regard to enrolment

If Section 39 Subsection 3 is referred to it willbe seen that where a census is ordered only that information which is obtained as a result of such censuscan be used in the preparation of rolls The compulsor jJroyisions of the Act do not contemplate thatthere shal1 be two systems of compilation if a censusis btkcn the result of such census shall alone be usedin the preparation of the new rolls whereas the com

pulsory enrolment provisions mean that there shall bea continuance from year to year of the ro11s based on

claims by electorsAlso uncler Section 4 it is pToposed to widen the

1 enue of hearing of appeals by magistrates permittirg a magist ateof a local court to hear app als thuBdomg mYaY WIth the necessIty of electors aypearing ina COl1lt of Summary Jurisdiction At present if objeetions to 1n enrolment are heard the matter has togo before a magistrate in a police court and thereare reasons why an ejector shonld not be treated asa misdemeanant

Continuing uncleI he interpretation Section 4 t e

I f 1 oistrar IS cxteJl l d by aclehng the wOldtIt 0 b

D uty as lImier the proposal sIIbm ttel for con

1ePtiol1 it is intended to prOVIde machmery whereby

lo81 ristrars of the Assembly districts may keeptJLt 1 llioJJ of a proyince roll applicable to their ret18 d 1 t t Is Jeeti c districts and to pIon e l epu1es a paces

here registrars are liot rvmlable at presentSection 17 page 6 It IS propose to substItute the

Yord for for thc word in m the fourth l1 le

to enable eleetors tn yote at appol1ted places oUt de

their istrids TllJS IS neeessar 1ll ordeI that 1b

sentee yotes may be recorded on the day of the elec

tion I I IS tinll 1 S plg 11 1 nlenc 11l8nt Y IS ea l C tIr

ing the Jilt Slsfjn

of P lrli nHll t wlll elly tlip ttate

Inw IS In ought 1110 11lle WJth that of th Commoll

enlth in nB resps l xeeptmg WIth lCgarcl to

aif castes or persons of the half bl o d Might I sug

est that rathcr an anomalous pos1tlOr arrses 1n as

JUch ns if a person of the half blood IS a half caste

aboriginal he cannot be enrollcd wheres a p rson

IJorn in AustralIa of Asra lcparcnts IS qrahfie y ould

t certificate from the Ch ef Protector of Ab ng1l1es be

acceptabl ill suppoltof n chum JY a llilh c aste forenrolment

Section 10 pnge 7 Here prO ision is made for the

keeping 0 pOltion of tl1l p inn roll by the registr Il

of nn Assembly dist1iclSections J n page 8 Under the present Act the

Chid Eleetontl Ufic e1 is empowered to haye printedan l issul l 1o ls wheneH lie thinks fit but this is sub

ject to IIinisteTial direction in the case of an amalgnnwted roll Undl1 Sedwll 2li supplementary Tolls

1mve to be printed nnd issued for each proyince nnc1

listrict cverv six months but on the ground f ex

pen lihll d nilg ll Clnt years t11 is section l a not

J eell gin n effect toThe l oposals aTe that rolls shall be printed and

1ep1intell whenever the Minister so directs ancl thatsnpplementary rolls shall also be issued under Ministerial directionIt is not intelHkel to inte1 fere with Section 25 which

provides thnt n printeel copy of the roll for eve1j provime or clistrict shaII be kept at the office of the registrar

As to Section 27 under which it is mandatory forsupplementnry roBs to be incorporated with previoussupplements it is suggested that this section shouldbe deleted as frequently additional small supplementshave hall to be issnell at election times emlj1llyingcleletions and eorrcctions

Section 0 pnge 1 The l pfl entC here is to llEW

mlJs and it is proposed to cle cte these provisions as

ne rolls e onl allplieahle where n redistrihution ofsents kls hern effccted and mnreoyer compilation ofrolls hy mcaIlS of electorn CCJlSUS is opposld to Section44 a which proYides for compulsory l nrolment Ane ectoml Cl11Sns anc1 compulsory enrolment cannot run

SIde bv sideReetion 411 pagc 11 Under Scction 1 paragraphb iii it is pro posecl to ndc1 the words at their

ellJ oll d nr cJresses hefore the words in the distriet ns in tbe yent of a reclistrihution it occursthat mal1edors although l c sirling in thc districtcannot lJC fOIllld at their enrolkd addresses

Rcetio11 cJA n proYic es thnt hen yon change yourplace of 1l si cne from one ndc1ress to anothcr youshoul giyc noticc thereof and the proposed mnenelment to Seetion 411 woulcl hring hc th serions into line

C ti 11 HI Clnll e Thi proposal is to ildotherC lstr lr of a listri t rith pow ere similnr to those ofthe 0hicf El doJnl Offir for the compilation of neiYrolls III th YC llt of a 1 c1istriliUtion

Seetinl1 Jn SIlhseetion 4 The S ll1lremnrks IPplY11 iUll 2 f lrlilhms in Rolls

Si1 ion 42 Jt is proposecl to 11 1 I s onc1 p IJ agraph to this tion I hereby elaims whiell come tothc hmds nf se n thl l rJ rs l 1 olher than an offiioerHhall 10 on a pllfornte fnrm 1nl1 the p 1on reeeivIllg tllc reJaim Sh lJ giye a receipt thcrefnt

Jon 43 At present claims are un kr thig SCClfJlJ fill IJl o i ioualh but undE l the np1propos ds

thcy ill bl inlJl edi ltelv enroCCSectinn 4 SulJseeti01 4 The intention is to insert

a1 ew paragraph d fixing au essential part of ac aIm as the truc date of the signiuo bv the claimantand to altcr paragraph d to e

13

S ti l1I 44 RuiJseetion 4 The prOVJSIOnS of thisc t I III l allllllJiil r1 b ill new proposals J cgalllingdaim cilnls IJejl1g on the perfOlatell fornl rrferred toin Scttion

Section 43 It is prnp d to lelpte the whole of1 hi sFchou 111 1 to i lSert lH W pr isiollS rhieh willdo Wl ith the IJ day n tlllltion period of claimeards llld Hl nit of eJainls lWlllg Jllollt ll 011 tlle dateon which tIIE rlle J l Q1Yl1If thpre i 1111 l ouht n to the uthcnticitv of the

daim th rlgisiral m I nfl it h the Chief EJeettlrnl OfIiu l fo iilql1i1l1d if the Jeeisioll is adverseto the cleetur lJ sh iJI lie so i aw lllowed to

ilpptnl to J llJ q Ltrnt i11 tllc prescribed lllilnner

To a 0 appellllnt to II l eJl esentell at an npl alit is proposed to Conlnll n snlJsectioll e of Sec1 ion 415 of the plesent Ad to Ire illse l tec1 as subsectioll In of Jrnft C Jrnsl 4 ylrieh ailows a person tolJlJh n in pc rsoll 01 11 ag t 01 tn fOl varcl by post

a jglll stntCl1ltnt setting forth tllC l CJ Oll for his rc

lllli llillg on t1w ndi

l nr1Il tlJl 11l S llt A t all l SOll who claims en

rolmcnt ill1l1lc lirtel rill to 111 e tioll llJ1 wlrosel lilll U1 Ill ul j lli Jll tl1e1to is in alJC ynncc at thetime uf the i sne of tlre nit is enrolled alld he l e

mains e1l1 o ccl Ilohvithst UlClillg tlle objeetion unlessof e oulse sneh u ieetioll lim lw l i terminec1 by a

magistrate in due time

Section 46 This will lie delete l ns emolment willbe forthwith and any ohjE etions in fnture wiJl be toenrolments and not 10 hims

Seetion 47 An mtirdy lllW dlIFl is provided cover

ing tlle objeetioll to ell1olment of e leetols The con

clitions 11 e similar exccpt tllDt instend of the eleetorl em lilling enrolled if an oLjection is penc1ing at thetime of the isslle of thl writ the ll yelSi position willobtain The l egistulI wilJ iitst make his inquiriesanc1 if lie is ill doubt Hftlmilking sndl il1 jlliries hemny submit his rcpolt to tllC Chid EJedolal OffieerillO in turn after making inquiries irill advise the

reoistr nr whether 01 not to olltinue tire enrolment ofth elector If the decision i nclYerse to the electorhe may appeal and if the appeal is not decic1ed beforethe day of the poll then his name vill not appear on

the roILSection 48 It is proposed to continue the proyi

ions at p1esent contained in Section 47 e whichpermit of an elector appcaring in person or by agentor to f01yarc1 a statement in writing for the consiclera tion of thB magistrate

Seetion 4D Cnder this section the registrar of theprovincB shall receive notiCB from an elector of anysubstitution 01 t hange of qualification and that theroB shall he altered by the registrar forthwith 10

timl Jimit is iixed I ith the result that upon the question lJling submitted to the Solieitor General for

opinion lw ruler that a p1 ovilJCC BIBctor may even

on the day of the poll apply to substitute for his enrollpd ljurlification of the same kind which he mayhan lost a similar qualification within the provinceIt is manifestly impossible under such conditions tolJ1ake the alterations to the roll as contemplated andit is suggested that the elee o1 should give notice tothc registrar not later than G p m on the day of theissuu of tllo writ

S etion 51 subsection c To inl lude occupationin ael itiol1 to nIllJB and adrlress as applied to an elector

Section 51 f C1ller the Act there is no authorityfor tllB Chief Electoral O ticer to remedy an error andit is plojJo crl that lle should k1e such an authorityunder th e nliI scetion to le knOlil1 as f1 Coniclln tion to be gi en WllelJ lealing with the Con

stitution Act as to whcther inmates of haritable institutions should bB c1isquaJififC1 An ad lltion to Section jl is suggr ste l dlieh will restrict any alterationby a registr nr after in ordcr by a magistrate

Section 52 Ths sedion as it at preseut stands hasto bc read in conjunction with Section 4 Underthe latter elaims hae to remain in the hands of the

registrar for a period of 11 days before enrolmentbut unde1 thB new proposals claims will be enrolledforthwith thcrBfore the 14 clays provided in Sections45 and 52 will not be operative and the rolls will closenot later than the hour of 6 p m on the day of the

issue of the m it There is proision for special marking in the event of the name of any person appearingon the Toll for which dirtctions have been issued for

cancellation or rcmoval

Sections 55 56 57 and 58 All these refer to ad

yi rs from the Registrar General the Inspector General of the hsane the Superintendent of Public Charities and the Comptroller General of Prisons respectiYel wl1Prehy the Eleetoral Department is advisedp pn three months of the status of electors It is

suggested that it should lJe reduced to every monthanc1 it hns been a matter of practice for years pastthat one month has 1een in force

Seetion 60 From the reading of this section it

could he imagincd that aftcr the notification of the

Chief Eledoral Officcr he wonld be bound to strikethe mainen name of a person recently married off the

roll but the Solieitor General has advised that if thepleci or fails to claim for her married name her en

rolment must remain under her maiden name Imightmention that the department in the course of its

inquiries has foun l that the universal practicehas een that when a female elector maniesshe moves from one adnress to another ad

lres In reccnt vealS it has been the practice to semI the p le tor a notice advising her that

it is proposed to strike her mainen name off the rollfor the address enrolled and at the same time she re

eeives from th e Department n e1aim eard for her al

tered name and a l lress for completion I suggest that

after the nrtion set out above the Chief ElectoralOffieer has power to or ler the removal of the elector s

maiden name from the roll

Section 75 Under Section 8 of the ConstitutionAmendment Act 1899 in the ease of biennial elections for the COllllei1 the times for the writs cannJt

be extended bevol1l the 21st May An alteration inthe times for the issue of the writs the receipt ofnominations holding of the poll and the return ofthe writs may be neeessary to overcome any delays in

counting that occur owing to the new provisions relating to absentee voting

Section 76 Und r the law as it stands at plesent

a candidate might nominate for two vacancies Should

they oceur at the same time in the one province theamendment would prevent such an occurrence

Sections 89 to 98 This division in the pIesent

Act rleals with voting by post or in absence and it is

proposed to repeal the whole of the sections and re

enact prolisions similar in character to those of the

Commonwealth and the other States It is not neces

sary to enlarge upon the reasons for making the suggested alterations as the recent happenings are suffieient wall anty for the cOllsideration of the presentprovisions and thc installation of a system which it is

hoped will minimise if not eliminate the frauds whichhan been disclosed The effect of the new provisionsis tlwt instead of the elector applying to a postal vote

ofiieer he will in future lodge an application formwhie1J forms will be distributed at every centre in theState These forms will be addressed to a registrarfor any district or province or to the Chief ElectoralOfficer and will be in a forlll to be prescribed by regulation It is intended that that form shall have uponit information identifying the elector by his signaturehis place of birth and date of birth238 By Mr WISE Does that mean that an ap

plication may be made to a registrar ill any distri t01 province with regard to any other district or

province 1 Yes

239 Then it does not mean that it wilJ apply tothe one district alone o For instanee a man lllaybe on the South Plemantle roll but be in Broollle priorto the electioll 01 nominations and he will be able to

apply to the registrar at Broomc20 By Hon J COR ELL You suggest that the

form shall havc upon it information for the ic1entifieahon of the elector iucluding his signature his placeof birth and date of birth The object there is to

bring our claim card into line with the Commonwealthpractice

21 By the CHAIRMAN But does the Commonwealth card include reference to the place of birth ofan elector f Yes

14

242 By Hon J CORNELL In one instance it isdealt WJth by way of regulation and you propose thatIt be dealt with by law We arc permitted nnderthe Art to make regulations regardIng the form of thedmm card

843 But how would you be able to deal with thatwhen you would h IYe bpfore you thousands of theSeads 1 IIe would be in the same position as tbe

Commollwealth who ha e tens of thousallds of claimcanIs without the date of birth on them TheelIdeavonr to aseertaill the inforll1atioll from tin e tohnH The great ditlicult arises throuuh lack of datafor idcntification pl1lpo es At pre ent the StateElectoral DpartmCllt is entirely depelldellt upon aeompanson of slgnatlllCs I can show you the signatures of a tather and IllS son and I would defy themembers ot the Commission to say which was vvhich1t would bc a matter of impossibility to distillguislbetwecll them

244 By Hon C G LATHAM And because ofthat fad you have aetuully deprived one elector oflllsnght to vote Yes 1 have That difficulty appliesIlot only to the signutmes of father and son but alsoto those of mother and daughter

245 By HOII J COHNELL If you had the cardI ll the form you suggest alld a man illadvertentlyforgot the ploper date of his birth anc1 insertedallothl3r date how would you get on i At any rate

w would have three bases of comparison where today we have one To proceed with my statement

UIl rerpipt of the applicatiOIl the registrar orthe CInef Elcetoral Officer as the case may benll torward to the eledor c1irect a ballot paper

11l a fo m to be presnibed and the elector shallman Ins ballot paper alld return it ill a specia Ilyenclorsed enye ojJe having information therconslonlar to that 011 thp application form and sufficient to identify the applicant elector with thevoter

Moreover illstead of the RdulllirJO Officers fortl e respe ti e districts a111 plOvinc s being entIusted WIth the marlung off and counting of thepostal votes SUrh yates will be addressed directto the Chief Electoral Officer and be distributedby him in sealed boxes for th respective districtsal1l proyinces

It is intended that on the dav of the electiontheI e will be at earh chief polling place and otherpollmg plaees appointed by the Minister a sealedballot box addressed to the Chief Electoral Officerill which may be placed all absentee or postalballot papers and at 7 p m on the day of theelectIOn that box will be closed and sent to Perthand dealt wlth at head office There will ofonrse he transfers between districts and

where as in Western Australia there re 50Electoral Districts it is npcessa y to have someplaee where there could be one clearing of postaland absentee yotes for the whole of the StateIt may be that in the metropolitan area thepoll wilJ not be declared on the night of the electI 1l as has frequently been done as the head officeWIll have to await the receipt of all boxes fromthe ehid polling plaees and other appointedpolling places before the clearance of the votescan be effected and further pIeference countsfor any pro ince or district will not be dealt withby the Chief Eleetoral Officer he will simplyeonnt the first lreferenees and immediately thatconnt is concluded the papers will be placed underseal and forw rded to the retnrning alticeI for thepronnee 01 dIstrlrl concerned

246 B I r HAWICE In the event of a specialLallot box belllg used lll say the Iferredin booth andsome of the ordinarv oters lodging their papers inthe spe IaI box would they be a lmitted to the conntYes If they were in the ballot box On the night ofthe lectlOn They woul l be sent baek to Merredin241 By l on J CORNELL The proposal is a littlemIcrOSCOpIC m one respect If there were three candidates for Imberlev the returning officer would countall the Jnmary votes anc1 you would receive all thepostal votes You would take the first preferencesand send them back to Broome to be allocatedThey w nld not be sent back to Broome The postalvotes mIght come from the ICalgoorlie Albanv 01 Fremantle boxes

28 But you say the proposal is to count the firstpreferences anc1 return them for allocationf Yes

j

III 18

that

nderthe

thath sp

the

laimen

c te

drrtataten a

ignathe

hich

suish

e of

1 of

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carel

cntlyertedrate

e to

tr or

y bepapershalliaIly

ereon

sufu1 the

s for

g enf the

lirect

butedtricts

lctionother

waledfucerpostalf theerth

iI ofand

e 50

some

postalte

1 the

elecofficefrom

Jilltedvotes

ou nts

with

limplythat

underor the

pecialh anders inount T

ght of

redinlittle

candicount

III the

rences

ted VpostalII Fre

e firstes

itll

Il

49 The IL T111LN T BuggeRt that mn ttcrs of

1 1 IllSI IcSl d l tp1thnt 11

n The TTESS An adelltlOnal fae1hty w1ll be

01 t Ill eledors inasmuch DR whereas UlHler the

afforc1el C

111 poshl votiuo onlv is pIovided fOT there

resc s

i e adcliti n of absent e voti l on the e a of111

I 1 ll There is also anoth r adel1tlOnal fm ht lll

the ein a scattered population like VestelllAustra

asmnc 1 elecmed desirable to allow enrolled electors lli re

ha 1t 1S

t to reoiSt I l as 1 rsons to whom ballotlote r ell 1 s to t11

l 11 e fOItlleled ml11edwtelv the nOlluna lOllS

alH l S Ll fI1 11 fo all electron Tins 111 only apply o

Ire uo Thhere polling plaees are not In eX1stence ere

course h ll ltf tlll Lnn e1u ntial aHlendments wIlle Wl resnrom c

tlo Jti n of the new system of po t tl VOtlll or bsen ee

tI lDrl tll l V will app1v to SeetlOns 13 114 1YO IHg I b S t 141 d13G 138 and there W1 1 e a new ec lOn a n

ntlments to SectlOns 14 115 150 and 178 One cllffiw

which arises in conection with the proposed bsentee

ostal voting provisions is in respeet to SectlOn 8 of

tI onstitutioH Ads AnllHc1ment Act lS Hl TwIt

11 lt sedioll tberc em be no e t HslOn f tlme for th

rltnrll of the writ in the e lse of blClllnal electlOns or

ti e Legislative ouneil nnel it may be tbat proVlslOu

will ban to IImalle if my eount 1S delayed by the new

proe cnrc

Setion 11 S SI1bsect iOH 4 is amplified by makmg

it o JigatolY for a plcsi Jing offic8r to obtaiH a de

daration here an elcetor s name is marked as pro

vided for in flection 52

s etion L disputed returns lhe qncstion has to

he taken into onsi eratioll whether the Chief Elec

toral O jieel at the hearing before the Court of Dis

plltei H turns SllOUld not be r epresented WIth e

gard to Section 150 although there is a consequen lal

al1lClHtlllt llt ill this section it is lloeessary to reView

the list of documents which have to be sealed up and

sent to IJnrliamcnt House or instance it providesthat all accounts in connection with the election

should be ent to the Clerk of Parliament but of

eomse these acconnts form portion or the accounting

sy tel11 of the State

Section 172 The department has been faced with

the difficulty of obtaining returns of candidates elec

toral expenses inasmuch as at the time of a general

election Ulany candidates are grouped for advertIse

ment and other purposes and it is difficult to assess the

expenditure for each respective candidate It is su2

ested that some amendment should be made permittingthe Chief Electoral Officer to assess in such circumstances

Section 184 Provisions as to bribery or undue m

fiuence at elections are matters for legal advice

Section 202 It is suggested that the time in which

prosecutions may be instituted under the Electoral Act

shall be extended from six months to 12 monthsGeneral Remarks In a number or the amendments

submitted theintention is to provide machinery wherebythe registrars or Assembly districts can keep their re

spective sections of a province roll and in subm1ttmga equest for amendments or this kind the intentionis if possible to amalgamate the Assembly and pro

vince rolls To do this of course it is first necessaryto give effect to a redistribution or the Upper Houseand to simplify the qualifications of province electors A perusal of Sections 15 and 16 of the Constitution Ads Amenclment Act 18D8 will show that

there are gooel grounls for giving urgent considerationto a review of the qualifications under which electorscan claim enrolment for a province

El etells voting when not enrolled It is weknown

that under the Commonwealth Law an elector on theday of the election may claim a vote upon making a

declaration under Section 121 of the CommonwealthAct but it is doubtful whether these votes are evertaken into consideration at the counting of the pollfio far as can e lea1 ne1 these lec1arat1011s are subse

9 nently used as evidence against the electors for hav

lilt falled to effect proper enrolmentAfter listening to the deliberations or the Commisn I at the direetion of the chairman consnlted the

rOWn Solicitor M1Wolff at last week end and he

xpressed the opinion that not only should the sectionso hleh I have referreel be amended but that various

Ov s ons need to be transposed and the language of thect could with advantage be slwrtened To go into

15

the whole of the rletails discussed by us would occupyconsideralJle amount of time and I propose therefore

menJy to refer to certain sect ions to Bhow the result of

om interview I endeavoured to convey to Mr Wolff

our intentions as outlined in the minutes of the secre

tI1Y 111Wolff proposes to plnee an interpretationof absent otes in Seetion 4 He yould delete from that

sedion the words 1inister mCl ns the responsibleIinistel of the Crown charged for the time beirg with

the administration of this Act bLc ause prov1slOu for

that is mnde in the Interpretation Act He also suggeststhe deletion of the definitions of prescribed and

plodamation and the insertion of a definition of

postal voter He direct eel attention to the fact that Sec

tions 22 and 4 J related to similar matters namely the

preparation of the rolls and suggested that the two 10

visions shoul l be brought together Much the same thmgapplies to Sections 38 anel 44a which relate to eompulson enrolmentTo Sections 40 an l 44a much the same

thi 1g applies I win quote just one more instance to

how the effeet of Mr Volff s advice Section 146 deals

with the clec1aration or the poll and return of the writ

Section 147 practiean extends an invitation to questionthe return of thewrit Section 148 refers to the voidingof eleetions Seet ion 164 under the part dealing with

lisputed returns also refers to the voiding of elections

J 1r Wolff is of opinion that those three sections shouldbe brought together under the part dealing with theourt of disputed retnrns

2 1 By Hon J CORNELL

machinery provisions Yes52 So long as thc effeet is not destroyprl such sec

tions cenlcl he eonsoli latell Yes233 The CHAIRMAN Before Jr Gordon gave

l virllnce anrl afterwards the various suggestions andamendments proposed were dealt with and will subse

qllently form part of the report If any member wish s

tD raise a question at this stnge it will be placecl on

l PC l l

2 4i terialIi vy

2

All of them are

By Hon J CORNELL Tn 1932 the then min

head of the Elletoral Department Mr T A L

introduced an ampneling Bil1 YesClause 3 read

Any Chief Electoral Officer in office at the com

mencement of this subsection or hereafter appointednnder this Act shan hold office during good be

haviour Provided that the Governor may remove

11 lm from office upon the n ddrcss or both Houses oftIll Legislature praying for sn h removal on the

gronnd of proved misbehaviour or incapacity andprovided rurther that no person shall be capable of

being appointed or entitled to hold office as ChierElectoral Officer after he has reached the age of

sixty fiye yearsiTou are nvnle of that provbioll Yes

2 as its ine iusion a matter of Governmentpo ie or cUd it arise from any recolllmendation fromyou I made no reconJlllendation I believe it was

the policy of the Government of the day25 Mr Banelv said vesterclav that in the Com

monwealth office clivisional returdng officers as wellas chief retl1lning otlicers had certain moneys at theirdispCsal for expenclitnre on behalf of the cJepartmentIs there an such provision in 0lJ department Ihave to go through the usu ll form and obtain approval for 111 requisitions

2 k If your powers in this respect were enlargeddo you think it wonlcJ experiitc the work in yourofiiee lt is difficult to answcr that question Duringthe last fe ve llS circumstances ha e arisen wherebvan powers that were given to olfieers would have

bel lI abrogated by the finRncial conditions It mlY

have sometimes happenc cJ that the offj e is slightlyhampered but one has to pnt np with that beeause orthe l xileneies of the times

2 1 HOll J CORELL I shoul l like to know if

the witlless thinks that suffieient money has beennHvle ayailable to his lepartme1lt tor the proper eon

elud of its actilities260 The CHAIRJAN That is not a fair question

to put to a Government official It is a Treasurvmatter Yon woul l not expect an otlieer of the se

viee to bc Closs exanlinld about the Estimates he hasput up to the Treasurer

26 H on T CORNELL 1I1y object was to e1earup the eonception that insufficient money has been

given to this department

6 The CHAIlnL N That sort of thing appliesto all departments

2G3 By HCIll C G L 1 H Pl lSI0n IS nC1 lefor olj tiOll to be raised by other than eketondollicns Tlwt is in all statntesi And for an objeetion to taken ilt illlV

time I Yes6 Ih HOll IL H H In regard to jl staJ

uJting U ComlllonweaJth oijjer said vesterday thatwhen an election is takmg place postal ballot papersare forwarded to l o le ill olit distnets where no

polling places 11 ro ide l Uur Hl1lPllI ne11ts Il idefor the reg istratiolJ of postal Yoter onhl Uw ejetoral officer send ballot papers only to the people whoregistered or wonld the I e sellt to l rYOlll J11 thelo alilvJ am ref ning to l L l lIlallelJt postal votersWe ale providing that til Y mal registcl and that atI l eleltions ballot pApHS wiIw 10J1i tlrcl d to thEJ l

Would PI cryonp l eil n ballot paper or lVould tIllS00 all to thosp who rgist l i lw c read the nlles

p1h i tg to the Northern Ten itor lH 1 i iol1tline is that Iwllot Pilpel s are f01varde l to leclo sin suhdivisions where there are no polling placesl liat is c1 1 1 1It frolll 01lJ proposal I1S thet witl b1oJliJW pInelS ill SOOI of our subd yisiolls

n Th HOIl C U L TIL L EH1c eiOi Il

rolled the e woull lC i a l a ot 1 111 bul ill lOIn

eases tl c eleetors llIight prefer to go tn the l olli lgplaees In th ease of the Killlhcdls the cledorsenerally prefel to go to th poll ns tln il wrlUnent esidents

2G7 By IIon G FH ASEH 011t proposl stnJldtLballot pHi rls will p sent li t from th oni c hto thosp who registll i fltntis so

8 Bv HOll T OIL ELL III ease s wherc tiJ reis no l eg stral 80Hl eaSelJlllt lllilht he effc I tel1 ltis provided that deputy registrars shall be appointedI ha a etld refell ed to th t oint

n0 n the nce of Lnltr BilL for iWltanlewould the postma t l thele be appoi tcd a dcpntr istar i 1 won c be prr pal 1 to do tkt if I W la perm1JH 11t postln1u tel III otllf l rIS s tl s l e n t

of the road bO1l CI e011be n11 11 nt il pn nhedareas

270 Vo111c1 YOU U C l pt an A Til1tl1lal B l1k hlspector Yes

71 By HOJl C G LATHAI W1111il van permithim to tlavel from far n to farJll to take po tnlyotes No In most of tlle localities south of Geraldton I tind that po tal dei eries are made twi e and threetimes a week There is thus ample tl1ne lJ1 whleh tomake applieation to the registrar Tve are not like theCommonwpalth who l 1 e five registrars we have 50I have split 11p the rolls so th lt the facilities are Hvailable to the electors At their nearest place I am askingnow to go further so that the electol s may have accessto their section of the rolls at say Alhany WHgin or

Narrogin as the ease may be There is t e other plision which shonlcl meet MlCornell 8 deslles Ancl It ISthAt if there is no polling plaee an indiviilual can beregistered as an elector to whom a hallot paper will besent

272 By Hon C G LATHAM Suppose I have aI ote for York and I clesile to go to the Eastern Statesit yQuld be possible for me to record a vote betweennomination day and polling day 1 Yes you eould do soat any of 50 places

273 By 111 McDONALD On 8eetion 47 you statewith regard to a voter whose enrolmcnt is objected tothat if the appeal is not deciclecl before the day of thepoll then the name will not appeal on the roll In yourprevious notes dealing with the same question you saySuch elector mav vote in absence bnt shall not be entitled to yote pmsonally at the polL If I object tothe eurolment or a voter his name is starred is it notr

Yes274 And if that objection has not been clealt with

finally at the time of the election what is the positionof that voter regarding votingf He can utiljse the facilities in respect of voting in absence

27 That me llS he can sign a declaration to theeffect that he is qualified and then that declaration andhis ballot paper al e kept until the matter or his rightto be on the roll is finally determined That is so276 Ilis name remains on the roll r If it is on the

roll

IC

277 Suppose I ohject to 300 name or the roll otan Assembly district and I loage my obJechon after thewrit is issued it would be impossible for JOu to determine all my ClOO objections in the short time betweenthe issue of the writ and the late of the pollr Thatis the f1ifficulty now

278 Then the position would be that those namesIlJUlcl be staf1ed ana the inclividuals concerned would

VOLe by signing a aeclaration hich would he retainedperhaps fo some weeks untd a declslOn was gIven frbe decision would have to be gien before the declaration of the pol

279 Itmioht tnke some weeks if there were a largenumber of ol jcctionsf A some hat similar positionarose in conne tion with the last Katanning Assemblyelec tion TIllPiesse tonk exception to 200 or 300 nameson the Katanning roll Idid all I could to facilitatethe hearing so that tlJe matter might be determined

quidd280 If I ohject to 300 names and It turns out ultI

mately that the objection is Ot s sta nable those peopIe would not be depm cd of the r r ght to vote1Itwould be matter fOI the determll1atlOn or the magIstrate and I would bae no say in it

281 B Hon C G LATHAM You hae not etmade prm ision for voting in absence by a person lIving within tbe eketorateIf he were III Ins electoratehe could not vote in absence

28 By Hon J COHNELL You start off wlth a

roll 11riv I Ht on the 14 days maturity and you begInwith a n w procedure f either you or your reglstrarshaving the right to reJect the clann on the eve or an

eleeticl whleh vou cannot do now1 That IS so

283 Theref re those people will not go on the rollas tl11Y do now and they will not vote But they can

appeal284 Say 300 appeals are lodged and you have not

decided the appeals the names remalll on the rolls or

if vou hac decided the appeals yon cannot get the names

oft the rolls and they remain there r rhey are allstarred the department will see that a cleClSlOn IS arnvedat

h t283 lhcn it is proposed to do what IS t e praclceto day and a person will not be depnvecl or IllS voterProvided the magistrate mles that the name shall re

rnain all the rolL286 Hon J CORNELL I do not know how you

are going to square that with Section 161 of the Actb7 131 MlHAII KE It seems to me that as the

ot i rdecl now an eiectol al registrar ean strike

a person s name off the roll ay one week or twowec lis atter the person has left IllS estabhshed adtress Do yon think that pOoition wOllld be protectedif SOl1le provlsion were lllade in the Aet laYUlg It downthat no name shall be ohjected to or 8tnek off theroll until the penon eon erned has Ie tIllS preylOUSaddless for at least a month TJ at wOlll b verydimeult unless we made a house to house mqmry on

that subject208 1 ha e in mind that at the last eleehon the

dClartment put on a man in ortham to go fromhouse to house canassingr l ubody was employedat Northam by the department

08 Lh Yes I had nobody employed 11l Northam290 I tl ink you would find if you made inquiry

that tI e registrar had a man on there a man namedLeslie lat to my kuowledge

91 I think that if yon inquired into the matterYOU vlould find that it was so 1 would have toertifv the pay sheet

9 What happenecl in this case was that the man

vent from house to house inquiring whether so and so

was still living tltele and it the answer was in thenegatithe name ould be immecliately obJected to

and strmk off The l ersJn obJected to nught haveleft tlle place only a week and the rolls were dueto close in two weeks so that he would not be ableto establish a claim in another district as he wouldnot I e there Jilg clongll before the closing of theroll That of eourse is my objer tion to the Comm01lIealth system on the personal qualification

n3 Bv the CHAIRIfAN Vntil a man has theright tu get on another 1011 he shonld not be strllcoff f That is my aim

2 4 Ilr lIAWKE Sbould not that be laid downin the Act

295 The

make a note

296 Th e

me ever Slll

from threeto have a Ci

electors to 1

97 Bstrietly in

obligation Cf

298 IfDecember st

be struck oft

299 Bycertain thatstrnek off ur

Yes Sam

ALBBRTpar

300 B 1

the Commissgive ln gihave discusseing amemlmfbe necessarytion Acts AJ

toral Act I

matters sam

First as regfOfficer and

whole measUl

taking into c

bel S of the

endeavouredto the existiJfound thatnecessitated 1

ing and we

there were J

arising out f

emboclied indesire me todone am1 tois not n cessa

instances toworked To

Chief Electominor matterFirst of all

provides forphrasing thebe dis ualifie

voting at al

wholly depencharitable inor is an abolthe islal11S 0

blood JhatWe have a stion Acts Anthe whole lellwhich I hanment Act hanot exactlyAssembly ane

tion 17 is thcil and thesound mindor from allYtreason felol1the Constitutthe same diswas repealedof disqualificquoted It n

Section 17because bothtion 18 of tl

applicationtion 17 rel JaAct and pUIo dlsqualific

I WIth those 2

roll offter the

deterbetween

That

namesI wouldretainedivendeclara

a largepositionssemblyo namesacilitateermined

out ultiose peaote It3 magis

not yetrson ivlectorate

with a

u beginegistrarsIe of an

the rollthey can

have not

rolls or

l1e names

are alls arrived

practicevote

shall re

how youle Act

1t as the

111 strikeor two

shed adprotected

it down

off the

previousbe yery

lquiry on

dion the

era froIll

nployed

Northaminquiry

1n named

e matter1 have to

the manso and so

as in the

ljeeted to

ight havewere duet be ablehe would

19 of the

the Com

1 has the

be strucl

laid down

lI

295 The CHAIRMAN I will ask the secretary to

I a note of that matter It is highly importantm

The WITNESS It has been a principle with

e er since I have been in the department to give

fm three to four months before the electlon not

rom I

to have a cnnv sser b11t to a low tbe names of the

lectors to remaIll theree

297 Bv Mr McDONALD That would not be

strictly in accordance 1th the law9 I have no

obligation cast 11on me III t lat respect

298 If a prn ate obJechor were lodgecl bdore

December say and were sustalIled the name would

be struck ofH Yes

299 By Mr HAWKE I wallt tG h ve it made

certain that a Verson shall not be obJected to or

trnrk off until be is eligible for a lleV qualification T

Yes Some of this is news to me

ALBERT ASHER vVOLFF Crown Solicitor ancl

Pflrli3mentnl DTflftslllfln eXflminec

300 Bv the CHATRtlIAN Will YOll plDce before

the Conm ission the evidence you llflve been nsk8Cl to

give In giving a birrl s eye view of the m ttcrs I

have discusserl with the Chief Electoral Officer regflrd

ing amenc ments to the existing ElectoTfll Act it will

be necesSflrv to make some refeTences to the Constitu

tion Ads Amendment Act in its Tehtion to the Elec

toral Act Both are eo related with regflrd to electorn

matters sometimes 8l10malously flS I shall point out

First as regnrcls the ElectoTal Ad the Chief EleetoTal

Officer and I made fl compnhensive tTaverse of the

whole measure going through it section hy scction anc

taking into consideration the alllenrlmcnts that the mem

bers of the Commission have been clealing with We

endeavoured to co relflte those flmenclmcnts with regardto the existing Act In a fail number of instanees we

found that vflrious consequential flll1cnrlments were

necessitated bv the amcnr ments vou hflvc lwen consider

ing and we also ascertained tlat in the existing Act

there were fl good many contradictions amI overlapl ings

arising out of the various amenr ments tllflt have been

embodied in the parent Act I take it the Commi sioll

desire me to indicflte in some measUJe what has heen

done ancl to illustrate h some cXDmples I take it it

is not necessnry to go into evelV cktail hut to take ROme

instances to indicate the principle upon whicll we have

worked Touching upon the Electol nI Act first the

Chief Electoral Officer hfls fllleflilv clefllt with certain

m nor matteTS tlwt I cIa not plopose to mcntion flt flll

Fllst of all I will direct attention to Section 8 which

provides for certnin definite disgunlificfltiolls Pnrn

phra ing he section it states that every person slwll

be dlsguahfied from heiner cnrolled or if en roller from

voting at any election vho is of unsollnd mi ld is

wholly depe1Hlent on relid from the State or from fllW

charitable institution or hfls heen flttainteel of treas011or is an aborigh1fll nfltiw of AustJ fllia Asia Africa oj

the lslands of tIle Pacific or is a person of the half

blood That WflS n provision enacter I think in Un

V e have a somewlwt similar provision in the Constitntron Acts Amenclment Act which however does not gothe whole length of Section 8 of the Electoral Act to

whIch Ihave referred The Constitution Acts Amenclment Act hacl two sets of disqualifications whieh were

not exactly the same One related to the Legislativessembly and the other to the Legislative Council Sec

t n 17 is the one that relates to the Legislative CounCl and the disqualifications mentioned therein are un

sound minel or receipt of chal ity from the Governmentr from any charitable institution and conviction for

tason f lol y or any infamous offence Sectioll 28 of

thConstltutron Acts Amenclment Act which related to

e same disqualifications for the Legislfltive Assemblv

fasdI real d h the Electoral Act 1907 and a fresh s t

ual1ficabons were enacted which I have alrefldy

i d r must have heen the intention also to repeal

becIon 1 of the Constitution Acts Amendment Act

tiou both sets of disqualifications were similar See

applic lof tIle Electoral Act purports to have general

tion 1Ion TherefOTe YOU have the anomalv of Sec

t rennini t1 rAct ad

n III le c nstitution Acts Amem ment

of din pUrp rtlllg to pJovicle a slightlv c1ifferent sel

withs ahficatlOns o the Legislrttive Coneil compared

ose appertammg to the Legislative Assembly

i

17 t

IrI

I

Section 17 of the Constitution Aets Amendment Act

therefore should be repealed That represents one

anomaly Legally I think Section 18 of the Electoral

Act would goyern the position regarding hoth Houses

of Parliament and that Section 17 of the Constitution

Acts Amendment Act was impliedly repealed How

ever that section shoult1 be repealerl in faet and that

section ought to be dealt with when legislation is intro

duced Then again if the Commission will look at Sec

tion 38 of tllc Electoral Act they will see that appar

ently the section has as its underlying idea compulsoryonrolment It sets out

The Governor may by regulations either generalor applicable to any pmticulflr roll specify the

methoel of prepflration Dnd prescribe the rules to be

observed in regard thereto Any such regulationsmay provide that any person entitled to enrolment

as an elector for the Assembly shall fill in signand send to the officer indicated therein a claim for

e1l10lment in accordance with this Act and other

wise comply with the relative provisions of tbis

ActThen the bst paragraph of that seetion definitely pro

vic1es for the eanyin g on of the system of compulsoryunrolment with penDlties for non complimlce The same

subject matter seems to have been defllt with in Section

HD where it is definitely state

Every person who is entitled to have his name

placed on the roll of any elistrict or sub clistriet

and whose nflme is not on such roll shall whether

his 11ame is registcred on the roll of any other dis

trict oj sub district or not within 21 days after

becoming so entitled fill in and sign in accordance

with this Act a claim in the prescribecl form and

cleliver the same to the registmr of the district or

sub district and otherwise comply with the relative

provisions of this Act

neec not read the remain del of the section Ihere

you will see thele is a definite statutory provision

that nlakes it obligatory on the person entitled to be

an eleetor to fill ill his chim card ThercfoTe I say

it is most incongrnous to have anotheT section that

JrOilleS fer rcglllations dealing with the Sflllle mattcr

Sei tion 411 whirh is ddinlte shollld be retamerl and

the other section shonld he strlld out In Section 49

of the Electoral Act we hflye proYisions cmboclier in

the 11lcaSlll e 11101 the hcucling of vliseellaneons

and it appeal s in Division 5 of Part IlL which deals

ith enrolments Section 49 says

An elector for fl prOy ne8 may apply to sub

stitute fol l is registerer qualification any other

snfie ellt r lfllifhation

he 11 0 i8ion there c1eals with J cgistTations and T

thin k it should appeal in the initial provision that

ile tls with Tegistrfltion aur I 11flye followed that

Iourse I ha e also adopter some moclifiCfltion with

reiran to the wording of the existing provisionsYliich I understand 15 1n ac coruflnc e with the wishes

of th CommissiolL T will Teacl the variation that T

have fl opterAny eletOl fllr a jlro inCe who was qnalified to

e l rgisteled flS an eJeetor for th 1 t pro ince on

the day of the issue of tbe writ for an election

shflll be quaifiecl to vote at that election notwith

stanr ing that sueh elector may lose his propelty

qualification lJcfoTe the date of the pollThat is to say shouic1 the oledor dispose of propertythat eutitled him to be registered as an elector undcr

those eonrlitions he will neyertheless be en titled to

his yote

301 Bv Hon C G LATHAJII Thflt would be rlue

to the fact thflt the mfln who pl1lChased the property

C ould not beC ome entitled to vote in the interim

Yes302 B Hon T CORNET L I hflrrlly see that the

wOlclino on have inc1icflted oulrl meet the positionIf a le seholdcr shifted he woul retain his right to

ote Thflt is so Perhaps in view of what Mr

Cornell has indiC8ted it would be well if a definition

of what property covere l were inelurled

303 Bv HOll C G LATHAM IVe dieI not ant

to deprive a person possessed of a property qualifieatiol of bis votC 311 1 11nlss 111 0 ision wcr made

probflbly two persons wonld be rlepJ ivcc11 Yes The

property qnalification includes honseholc1eJ freeholder oj

leaseholdel

1R

S04 By th CHAIRMAN A man might have the

qualification on the day of nomination and be entitled

to cast a postal vote but he might not be possessedof a qualification on election day Yet aceording to

the law he was entitled to vote at the earlier stage

but not at election time The vote of anyone who

dies should be disallowed Yes You would have a

record of the vote of such a person305 Hon C G LATHAM A difficulty might arise

in that the death might not be registered until some

time after the election took place306 By the CHAIRMAN Provision is made for

the lapse of seven weeks before the return of the

writf If a man died in the interim I think his vote

would be void307 Hon C G LATHAM If provision were made

in the Act I was wondering whether it would leave

any ground for questioning the result of a poll308 The WITNESS Section 42 of the Act had a

proposed amendment attached to it The idea of that

amendment was to provide for a perforated claim

On one side there was to be a form of receipt and on

the other side the claim When an agent took de

livery of the claim he was to give a receipt

Although certain duties were imposed on a person

who received such a claim for transmission to the

department nothing was said as to what should hap

pen if he did not forward the claim ConsequentlyI have remodelled that provision The amendment

submitted for consideration read

Claims which are intended to be transmittee to

the registrar 1y the hands of some person other

than an officer must be on a perforated form on

which to the right of the perforations the form

of claim is printed and to the left a form of re

ceipt to be signed by the person receiving the

claim from the claimant is printedAny person not being an officer who receives

from a claimant any such claim for transmissioneither directly or indirectly to the registrar shall

forthwith fill in and sign the receipt form detaeh

it from the other part of the carel or form and

hane it to the claimantI have altered that proposal to read

Where a claim is entrusted bv a claimant to some

person other than an officer fo transmission to the

registrar such claim shall be on a perforated form

The form of claim shall be printed to the right of

the perforation and the form of receipt shall be

printed on the left of the perforation The form

of receipt shall be properly filleel in by the personso entrusted and forthwith detached from the c1aim

and handed by him to the claimant immediately on

receipt of the claim

Any person so entrusted with the transmission

of a claim who neglects or fails to comply with the

provisions of the preceding subsection commits an

offence Penalty f50 and if the court is of opinionhat the non compliance is wilful it may impose

Impnsonment not exceeding six months in addi

tion to any monetary penaltyUnder that provision whoever takes a claim must make

out a receipt and hand it to the person immediatelyWhat I have submitted is merely implementing the idea

contained in the proposed amendment

309 The CHAIRMAN A man could tear off the

part without giving a receipt310 Hon G FRASER There is snfficient work to

get peop e on the roll without requiring a receipt to be

issued311 Hon J CORliELL Such a provision would

make it more difficult to get a man in the bush on the

rolL Mr Bandy said the Commonwealth hac nothingto complain about where the compulsory provisions of

the Act were administered311A The WITNESS With regard to Section 47

of the Electoral Act there was a proposal for an en

tirely new provision relating to objections The Com

mission will notice a reference in the draft replacementof Section 47 to an appeal from a magistrate by a per

son whose claim has been objected to The appeal is

dealt with in another section which was put forwanl to

amend Section 48 After considering the whole of the

proposed replacement of Section 47 the Chief Electoral

Officer and I came to the conclusion that t11e two

provisions should be combined We speak of an appealfrom the magistrate and in the same section we should

say how that is to be done In Section G8 theris a

general declaration that writs may be in the prescribed

form and shall fix the date for nomination the pollingand the issue of the writs The present proposal is to

fix the date for the return of the writ and work in aU

the other arrangements such as the date for nomina

tions the polling and the issue of the writ I have

reversed that provision and set out that it shall fix the

time for a the retul1l of the writ b the nomina

tions and c the polling As the first date is fixed so

do you fix everything else I have also tW1sted aro nd

Sections G0 70 and 71 and have put the sec110n dealIngwith the time for the return of the writ first the sec

tion dealing with fixing the time for nominatiom second

and that de tlinO with the tlme fixed for po1ll11g thud

There arises a important question dealing with the

automatic vacation of seats by persons who become Min

isters The current practice in the Dominions is that

lIunisters are generally chosen from members of the

party in power As Ministers re sele ted frolIl t e

party in power it has been cons1dered 1ll many Juns

die tions that they should n t have to stan the racket

of another election There 1S ample authonty for that

I wish to refer to the provisions of the Constitution

Acts Amendment Act which apparently makes this vaca

tion necessary Section 37 deals with the case of a man

who having held an office of profit becomes a member

of Parliament It is laid down that his office of profitis deemed to be automatically vacated when he becomes

a member of Parliament The other side of the picturewhich is the more important deals with the man who

whilst a member of Parliament accepts an office of pro

fit Itis only thinly declared by way of a proviso that

he has to stand for re election The effect is that any

person who is a member of the Councilor the Assembly

who after his election accepts an office of profit from

the Crown renders his seat vacant provided that if he

accepts such office of profit on political grounds he shall

be eligible for re election It is put bluntly and some

what cTJlelely Professor Keith in Volume 1 page 229

of his work entitled Responsible Government in the

Dominions saysThe British practice of re election on acceptanee

of office now abandoned by Conservative Govern

ments on flimsy grounds was introduced in its full

form in Canada where it has remained normal in the

Dominions and the Provinces the principle how

ever being that on resignation of a Ministry and its

reformation whether owing to the retirement of the

Prime Minister or his death the Ministers need not

be re elected unless indeed a new Ministry has

actually been formed and installed formally in office

in the interimI suppose the iclea is that the party is e1ected by the

people anel the Ministers should not have to run the

gauntlet of a fresh electionThis is convenient in ca8es where there may be a

short period when efforts are being made to secure

a fresh Ministry after the Government has defin

itely ceased to exist as such and the statutes defin

itely assign a month as the reriod In South Africa

the rule was never adopted and so eloes not appearin the Union constitution South Australia rejectedit from the first as did the Commonwealt1 and it

has gradually vanished from the other States while

New Zealand Malta Southern Rhodesia and the

Irish Free State ignore it The acceptance of an

other post or of two portfolios does 110t of course

vacate a seat The short duration of Dominion Par

liaments in Australia and New Zealand is one of the

causes of the acceptance of re election as otiose alltl

here it is in vogue its inconvenience has often lJeeU

noted but the advantage of allowing thus an el

pression of the will of tIle people has been held t

outweigh other considerations

rhere is one passage in this extract which is inaccurate

where it states that it applies to all the States in Aus

tralia That is not correct as to Western Australia The

Commonwealth Constitution however c1efinitely states

that a member who holds office in the Executive shaUnot be c1isqualifierl anel he does not have to stand for

yo election312 By Hon J CORNELL Western Australia is

one of the isolated exceptions in the British Empirewhere it is obligatory upon a change of JlIinistrv eluring

the life of the popular House that the members coli

eerned should seek re election Yes If it were decidedto r1eel l e the plilHip1e whereby members of Parliameutyho nccepte l uffiee in the Executiye were 110t liable II

vacate their seats we would have to amend Section 38

as well as 37 of the Constitution Acts Amendment Ae

The pIthingand 4J

3 3

AmeneTherpprehelJwrits

3Hwrit n

visioniCertniwere J

mentChief

pJic9tiinal dtainedfore

o clocday 9

usedby ththat i

ballot315

vellimfrom

formCouldme a

papera cou

a barstanc

seguedatesdeemcandinot tcnum

lccor

tentilhavebeen

sectietionfolloballoandsentor difor e

the r

wisedishmorewherwillwhiccoun

U ca

ref61

Onehie

d feofficBrolofficciplr

3cane

offic1l1enofhi3

draprirtUThelehasoth

3

Seccle

polling11 is tor in alllominarhavefix the

nominaIxed so

arounddealingthe sec

second

g thirdith thene Minis thatof theOlll they juris3 racketor thatstitutiolllis vaca

f a mall

memberf profitbecomes

picturelan whol of proviso thatthat anyssembly

1fit fromlat if hehe shall

Ild some

lage 229It in the

ceptanceGovern

n its fulllal in thepIe how

y and itsnt of theneed not

Istry hasin office i

ld by theI run the

may be a

to secure

has definltes dewlth Africaot appeala rejectedtl and it

ltes whileand the

Ice of aD

of course

Inion Parone of thetiose autl

often lJeen

us an exen held to

Inaccuratees in Aus

raliaTheely statesutive shan

stand for

ustralia 1Stsh Empiretry dUTingJmbers coJl tere deeided IParliameJlIt linble

totSection 38dment Act

Th provisions of the Electoral Act referring to the sUllie

thi g would have to be struck out and Sections 42 43

d 14 would have to be amended

an31 What about Section 8 of the Constitution Acts

t iJnent Act which has a bearing on the writs

Fe e is a proposal to introduce amendments of a com

T 1

hensive nature dealing with the issue and return ofpr

s for the ejection of members of the Councilwr

14 10 give a longer period between the issue of the

rit ud its retulll Yes Ve have gone into the pro

ions with regard to postal voting and absent voting

ertain amendments of a more or less minor character

vere made and there is nothing calling for any com

ent Th re is a provision to restrict the right of the

Chief Electoral Officer under Section 89 to entertain ap

plications nfter n ecrtnin time I have altered the original draft to provil1e that no application shall be enter

tained by the Chief Electoral Officer or the registrar be

fore the declaration of the nominations or after six

o clock on the afternoon of the day preceding the pollingday and so on as set out here No ballot paper shall beused wInch IS not on the forlll wInch has been suppbed

by the Chief Electorlll Officer Excel in one case nd

that is where the regIstrar Ilfs no avaIlable forms The

ballot paper must be on the prescribed printed form315 By the CHAIRMAN That will make it incon

venient for a man who may be a considerable distancefrom a booth he lllay have to write for the prescribedform and then afterwards write for the ballot paperCould he not say My name is on the roll kindly sendme a ballot paper Yes and he would get a ballot

paper Rere is another instance where I have comhineda couple of sections 13 and 139 Section 138 says thata ballot paper shall be mformal and it sets out the instances Then tl1ere is a proviso that if the numerals insequence are placed opposite the names of all the candidates but one the next following numeral shan bedeemod to be placed opposite the name of tI e remainingcandidates Section 139 says that a ballot paper shallnot be informal for any reason other than the reasoUScnume ated in Section 138 but shall be given effect toaccordn g to the elector s intention so far as his intentron IS cl ar Then it goes into particulars What wehave done IS thIS Subsection 1 of Seetion 139 hasbee made a general declaration anll I have made Subs ctron 2 of the same section the proviso of the sechon I have transferred the postal vote provisions to

iollo the general plovisioll8 I eJating to vaJillating ofJallot papers We then have the general provisions firstand the specific provisions next Section 142 of the pre

sentd Ac speaks of the returnb10 officer for the provinceor Istnct tfor e

as eI allllJlg the total number of votes giventl

ach c nc11date In the event of an eCunlitv of votesle returmng ffi 1 11

h0 lcel S In g ve a castmg vote but other

W1Se e shall ot vote at the election in a province ordlstnct 11l wlncn he 18 presiding That I think has beonmore prol J t fwhere

el y rans el1ed to a subsequent place and

11 bIthas been put towards the pnil of Division IV

WI e more ap twhich has b

poplJa e FI St th re is the provisioncount d

een ms rted dealIng WIth the proOressive

u caotan there agalll the returning officer will xercisemg vote f tI

refer you t S1 lere IS an equalIty of votes I wlll

Ifo ectlOn 144 of the present Act which savs

on any co t tequal j

un wo or more candidates have an

declarnum r of votes and one of them has to be

wJel defeated the retullling officer shall decide

Onenc I IS to be declared defeatedlas to be d 1 d d fwllieh one t

ec are e eated and the questIon IS

dafes whl1 lS to lJe Suppose there were three candl

office l PloJJed an equal number of votes The returninOnuglt say S tl

Brown can1 and Jones can go out but

officer comremalll m I understand that the returning

ciplesos to a declslOn on certain recognised prin

316 By Rcandidates wifrb G THAM Probably one of the

officer tha slttmg member The returning

member enT lJ prooably decl re in favour of the sittingof vot

of the three mIght have an equal numberes and the t

which of thre urnlllg officer would have to decide

317 Bose two would have to go outdrawi lot r McDONALD It could be decided by

principYes s

IdI understand that certain recognised

turning OffiwOU be adhered to For instance the re

held a p cl r would ask tlle candidates Have you everar Iamenta

11as previous y

r seat before If one camlirlate

other two ldoccupled a seat in Parliament then the318 B

o go outSecti n 1r4 Ion C G LATRAM Do you consid r

clear7 Threperfec ly clead I think it is perfectly

e candIdates might lead heat and there

19

fore I think the returning officer might conceivablyput out more than one candidate For that reason I

propose the insertion of the word one after theword which Now here are three sections 147

and 148 and 164 which all relate to the same subjectmatter fhe question is should they remain as theyure They are necessary in some form but we seem

to have three sections dealing with the same subjectmatter bection 147 says

No election shall be liable to be questioned byreason of any defect in the title or any want oftitle by any person by or before whom such election is held if such person really acted at suchelection nor by reason of any formal error or

defect in any declaration or other instrument or

in any publiation made under this Act or intended to be so made nor by reason of any such

publication being out of timeThat relates more or less to formal errors as a personnot being properly appointed as a returning officeriection 148 reads

No election shall be void in consequence solelyof any delay in holding the election at the time

appointed or in taking the poll or in the return

of the writ or in consequence of any impedimentof a merely formal nature and the Governormay adopt such measures as may be necessaryfor removing any obstacle of a merely formalnature by which the due course of any election

might be impeded Provided that the validityof the election and the measures so taken shallbe forthwith declared by the Governor byproclamation

That seems all right but all three sections deal withthe same subject matter

319 1hat section includes the case where it wouldbe impossible to hold an eleetion as not long ago at

Ureenough where the polling place could not bereaehed because of wated Ihere is power givenelsewhere to the Governor to extend the poll Supposing he did not do it I do not know whether thiilsection would cure that defect or whether it wouldnpply Our Section 148 is on the same lines as the

eOll esponding ueensland section I do not however

Jind our other two sections elsewhere O r Sectiol14tprovilles that an election shall not be voided in

eonsequence solely of any delay in holding the eleccion at the time appointed or in taking the poll or inthe return of the nit or in consequence of any im

pediment of a merely formal nature That is all rightup to that point if anything happened by mischanceIt eould not be taken advantage of But the section

goes on to sayand the Governor may adopt sueh meaSUles as

may be necessary fCr removing any obstacle ofa merely formal nature by which the dne course

of any election might be impeded Provided thatthe validity of the election and the measures su

taken shall be forthwith declared by the Governor by proclamation

320 Take a returning officer at a polling placewhere there is only one ollicial Suppose the offieialhas a heart attack and dies what would happenthen The polling place would probably be closed because there wonld be no appointed ollicer Sometimesit is difficult to get in touch with the presiding officerI know of a case where a girl who had been appointedreturning officer rang up the presiding officer on thenight before the election and told him she would notbe able to open the polling place until ten 0 clockbecause she could not get there earlier and the tim

for opening the polling place was eight 0 clock In

that case 1 suggested to the presiding officer that heshould appoint the postmaster in the place of thegirl In the event of any enol or contingency aris

ing such as indicated in Section 148 should it beabsolutely necessary to get the Governor s fiat or

proclamation to cure iU Someone might raise the

point that if that was not done the error would not

be cured321 By Ron J CORNELL I think the three il8C

tions should be consolidated and that the matter

should be lllad e mandatory Errors which occur inlul ertently shoul l not invalidate an election A

proviso of tllat nature is to he fOllnd in the COlllmollwenlth Act Section IlJ4 of whieh says

No election shall be voided on account of anY

elny in the declaration of nominations the polImg or the return of the writ or on account of

the absence 01 error 01 omISSIon by anY officer

which diel not affect the result of tlle ele tion322 Bv HOll C G LATHAM I should be verY

chary of inserting that provision because it meaI s

loo dng for troubie1 Yes How is one to proye what

the provision requires1 Any delay in the holding ofthe poll does conceivably affect the resnlt of the

election Our Act savs which shall not he proYNlto have affected the result of the election That is

to say the man who disputes has got to prove it The

Commonwealth provision says which did not affedthe result of the election

323 By Mr lVcDONAI l Om wOI rling is mucl

betted Yes As I reael the three seetions taken to

glther I think they mean this that in the case of

Sections 147 anrl l fi4 if YOU come within those two

sections the election is not inyalirl and in arlclition inany other case the Governor call cure any informalitvwhich has occu11ed whether before the poli or after th

poll324 By Hon C G LATHAM So long as the in

formality is IIOt serious1 Yes I have never heard ofthe powers under Section 148 being used by the Governor and I should say he woula hesitate to use them

in anything except a trivial ease

325 Bv the CHAIRMAN Therefore it is not neces

sary to ave a proclamation 1 That is so I wouldrather suggest that our provisions are similar to theCommonwealth provisions except as l egards the last pOltion and bringing the Governor in creates a doubt

If anything is notcured by his proclamation is it curedat am

326 By Hon C G LATHAllI But really it can

have no influence on the election can it1 No We have

any amount of maehinerto eover the case fl Latham

nentioned Not long ago we had the case of a presidmg officer who suddenly hael to go to his father s

funeral He simply left handing over his hooks to some

o ne else I have dealt with a few items to give some

indication of what has been donfThere are severalgeneral matters to w1jih I would chaw attention Onequestion was raised by tho Chief Electoral Officer reo

garding his right to interne in proceedings At present he has no snch rigllt He has to be silent He hasno Ight I13teor to inten ene in proceedings in con

ectron WIth ehcputed returns Recently there was an

mstance in which it was in doubt tight up to the lastmoment vhether the ckfeatecl eandidate would challengethe pOSItIon of the elected candidate I know that theChief Electoral Officer had in his possessi on ample evidence to pro e wholesale frauel in connection with thatelection If the defeated candidate in that instance hadnot taken steps to challenge the election the ChiefElectoral Officer would have hael to stand aside amIallow a man to sit in Parliament for six years despitet e fact that that man had no right to holel the positron I suggest that by leave of the court the ChiefElectoral Ofiicer should have the right to intervene inany case of a disputed retnrn

327 By Mr McDONALD Would you suggest heshoulel have power to be represented where a return was

disputed 1 Yes328 By the CHAIRMAN That was the Chief Elec

toral Officer s position in the recent incident in the

Metropolitan Province election and that was what hewanteel at the time If he could have presented the information inhis possession it would have saved the court

much time and the parties much money1 A matterarises under Section 153 of the Electoral Act The sec

tion readsSuch banot papers and other documents as may

be requl1ed by the Comt of Disputed Returns shallupon an order of the court be produced by theClerk of the Councilor the Clerk of the Assemblybut shall not be availab e for any other purpose

That matter eropped up lU the course of the proceedingsthat have been referred to in eonnection with a recent

Legislatiye Council election The Chief E ectoral Officerconsulted me and e were confronted with Section 153which distinctly says that the ballot papers and othedocuments are to be dealt with in a certain way andcannot be produced for any other purpose The thinDwas so palpable in that instame that I advised the Chief

lectOTal Officer o make arrangements for the segregatIon of the particular hnot jJfIi concerned fl11d to

get a warrant uuder the Criminal Code The

20

validity of that course was open to doubt butwe could not allow such things to go unnoticedWe secured the warrant and seized the particular ballot

papers in question We were fortunate in that instance

for there was no doubt about it they were forgedINe would have been in trouble if everything had heen

shown to be all right Someone might have questionedour Tight to take the action we did

32rl Bv lIfr McDONALD That sedion might ben right if words were added to indicate that they were

not to he ayailab e for any other pUTpose exeept uponan order of a judge of the Supreme Court1 That is the

addition I 31n suggesting Provision is made alongthose lines in Eng and an l it should be provided for

here When it is elesired to query an elector s vot e we

h8e a praetice of asking certain questionE and if neces

san the elector is Tequirecl to make a declaration Ifhe l1lrlkes a declaration it seems that the returningofficer must accept the vote He might make a false de

claration Ilevertheless the vote goes into the box so

long as he says I am the person on the roll and have

not yotrel before and complies with the other form

alities SUllpose the returning offieer well knew that the1edalation Yas untrue There exists in other jurisdictions pcmer for an offieer to protest a vote He marks

on the lJal k of the paper protested and the vote can

be idelltified in case of neeessity Once such a vote getsinto the bnl10t box under the existing practice theTe is

no YDY to identify it and yCt it may be necess ry to

i elltif it That ote might have a marked bearing on

the election I snggest that a simple provision be inBCTted providing for a protest mark by the presidingofficer

330 By Hon C G LA fHAM Would not that do

awny witl the secrecy of the ballot1 It woulel he re

Boded to only in cases of necessity331 How the Individual yoted won d be known be

ause the vote would have been challenged If there isonly one in the box the scrutineers woulel Imow Inthe imtallle I l ited you would have to know who voted

3 2 I tl in a better system would be to use the abscnt ote system I thin you might discuss that pointwith the Chief EJcctoraJ OffieeTI will do so

3 3 B 1111McDONALD 1he returning officer

might lmo y llositiyely that a man is committing a fraud1mt if hc signs the dcelaration the vote has to be taken

and lnnot afterwtnls be disallowed1 1 understandthat the Chief Electoral Officer can cite such cases

334 By Hon J CORNELL The Chief ElectoralOft1eer sai l eliffieu1ty had been experienced in obtainingrltll1 I1S of andidates electoral expenses as candidates

were grouped for aclYertising and other purposes He

snggesteel that he should be able to assess such expensesI think the Act should be made definite that the obligation rests on the candiclate1 That would only need a

prrn ision to impose on the candidate the duty of Ten

ering a return of his actual expenses33 Hon J CORNELL Candidates are supposed

to do that now but it is not done336 Hon G FRASER The candidate is required to

show expenditure by himself or on his behalf That istoo drastic Money is often expended without the knOW

ledge of the canelidate337 Mr McDONALD The phrase is certainly very

wide338 Hon C G LATHAM Sections 172 173 and

174 dealing with limitation of electoral expenses mightbe considered Yes You have sections dealing withbriloery corruption undue influence and treating Weknow that Section 172 is designed to prevent a man scattering largesse to get votes

339 1T McDONALD To prevent the rich man hav

ing all nnfair adyantage340 Mr HAWKE Those provisions are more or less

of a joke in practice341 Ron J CORNELL They shoulel be wiped out

or tighteneel up We might provide for expenditure incurred by a candidate or by his accreditee agent

342 The CHAIRMAN The lloint is whether thereis anything calling for an amendment of the law afterour thirty yeaTs experience of it

343 Hon J CORNELL One useful change wouldbe to follo v the Commonwealth Act and compel peopleto SIgn aTtlcles

tIll

Th

tOlwhal1

sheUlll

alII

Thofno1fol

Pa

tinpniniThalth2l

be

milefofha

vieso

setbe

no

T1ququTtAsviWI

Coan

viticthon

thinth

ficEl

eo

wI

re

itfeth

Wticno

l

to

V

is11

va

tone

0

into

ojca

se

A

tlIt

The WITNESS There is only one ore point344

t in J0aartl to hribery amI undue 1nfluenced tlla IS bC

I tl talll 11 IL Jit L i V ar agreel UPOll la

J

l ojllt that COllcerns me is that under the EleeThe O

t tlw magistrate an tr l people f r offences

toralif taken under the Criminal Code requlre a Judge

wInch It I somewhat anomalous that a maglstTated a Jun I han VI I ave power to disqualify a man and p ace 1m

shoulc I

serious penaltyUll aBy Hon C G LATHAM Subjeet to appeaH

ctice an appeal would I th111k be based on factsIn pr

ven difficult to upset a decision on the factsancll

ty for bribery a llel undue intluence IS paymentThe

Ulllnot exceeding f200 or impnson nent for a termof a

lina one veal The eonsequenhal penalty thatnot e ceec J

f Haws is rlisquahfica tlOno

47 That applies only to a man who IS retu ned to

I nto Ol a man who may want to get In nextPar lame h hc

The Electoral Act says that offences w lC are

tJmhable by imprisonment for more than one year are

pun Js

able offences and must be tried before a jurymchct

a I ay out It coulel be provided that the en

Therc IS C

cl tl 11I ies be increased for these offences an 11S WOl C

a ttl effect of ensuring that sucn cases were tned

nave lC

before a jury348 IrrespectIve of wllether they ere major or

c araeso To deal with that obJectlon It could beml110r II b I tl 1 tleft to the clefer ca1t to elect to be 1ea t WI y a COUl

of summary jnnsc1chon IJ the case o nvlal offenc s

I to do with defamatlOn the Cnmmal Code JIOlavmg

1 It tl 1 f he electsvides that a man can be c ea WI 1 sum many 1

o to be trieel 1 f349 By the CHAIRMAN Will you pTel are aCTa t

setting out the optional diseretionary powers that con el

be exercisecl in clealing with these people Yes I WIll

now deal with the Constitution Acts Amen mcnt Act

The oriOillal Act contains provisions relatmg to the

qualifications of electoTs of both Houses as well as the

qualifications of persons entitled to become m mbers

The provisions of the origi al Act dealmg WIth t e

Assembly weTe taken out of It th t IS to say the pIOvisions which deal with the quahficatlOns of electors

whilst the provisions relating to the electors of the

Council were left there thus creating a somewhat

anomalous position Either you sho lc1 find all the provisions in the Constitution Act relatmg to the quahfications of electors for both Houses or you should finel

them in the Electoral Act At the present time we have

one set of provisions in the Electoral Act relating to

the LoweT Honse and another set m another Ad relat

ing to the Upper Honse I ggest th t we tal e fTOln

the Constitution Act the provlSlOns relatmg o the quahfieations of electors and transfer those prOVISions to the

Electoral Act So ne of the provisions rela ing to tl e

constitution of the Council must of necessity rema1n

where they are Section 8 in paTticulaT relates to theretirement of members and one might well argue that

it should be left in the Constitution Act If you trans

fer one set to the Electoral Act I think you should dothe same with the other set Telating to the Council

Yyhat I suggest should come out is Sub ection 2 o Setron 8 which relates to the issue of wnts and whlCh IS

peculiarly electoral I suggest it shoulcl be transferedto the Electoral Act Subsection 2 is the subsectlOnwhich relates to electoral matters and cleals with the

issue and return of the writ It contains a very rigidprovision that every writ issued for an election o fil a

vacant seat shall be issuecl before the 10th Apnl pnorto the occurrence of the vacancy and shall be returnednot later than the 21st May following I have endeavured to find out why historieally those dates were fixeclill that way but I confess that Ihave not been ableto do so Ihave not been able to discover why the issueof the Writ was fixe l for l efore the 10th April Icannot assign any reason fOT that

350 By M1McDONALD It is probably due to

Aasonal conditions here in the way of cropping Yest any rate Iunderstand that in practice it has proved

Lin

d

1e

re

In

Ie

19or

velS

If19Ieso

ve

m

heieksan

etB

isto

on

in

ing

doreo

bel iaIn i

tedabJint

iceriUdken

and iII

oral Iling fateli

Hell

ses 1ligald airen t

iosed 1

II

ld tOlat illnow

very 1f

andnight Iwithi

Wescal

1 ha

1 1e9

d oulre jl

21

too rigi d anl I suggest that we have a uniform set of

rn oyicioll for 1101 h ssl l1lbl1IIil COllucil I thmk Mrnordoll 1 1 11 11 l tlil d SODH suggestions vhieh

w l e mah IS the csult of eollabolati011 on that partieular loint If tl18 llloyision in question is transferredto th Eltoral Aet you get the benefit of all the elash

city of tll eeion yhich enables the Governor to postpone the v nious date for the different steps to be taken

in an eleetion J omiuatiol1s polling and return I refertu Scction 75 of tlw Eleeloral Act hich says

Subject to thc provisions of Section 15 of the Constiintion Ads Amcmlment Act 1899 the Governorml Y 8xt ncl the time appointed for the nominationof eaJlclidates the taking of the poll or the returnof the writ faT allY election

E OT some TCaSOl1 or oti er it was thought at that timethat Rpetion 8 of tlle Cow titutioll Acts Amendment Actshould not be elisturlwd u l 1cJ allY cOllsi leration The

rcsult l s JcC that there has been a lack of elasticityabout it

1 By Hon J COnNELL Perhaps the date of the

21st May was govellled by the first paragraph as to

members vacating their seats Probably352 In practicc everGovernment has gone up to

the lih April whereas there was no obligation at all on

them to do so That was the latest date on which theycould is ue nits hut not the eu1Jest I understandthat tllC suggestjon nolY is that there shoulJ be some

distiuction between the four North Provinees and elistritls as regards the time for issue and return of writsas compared with other provinces and distriets whichare more accessible

353 By Hon C G LATHAM That applies to theissue of the nits and not to the return of the writsI am afraid we aTe at cross pUTposes because if youprovide a longer time between the issu and the returnthe return day may be the same I did not mean that

the return dav would be different354 By lIon J CORNELL What we really agreed

on was this There is practically a fixed dateon which a Legislative Assembly election shalltake place or the House shall dissolve There isa fixed date on which the senior members ofthe Lcgislative Council retiring shall cease to hemembers What we desired in between was that the

nominations fOT the Assembly should all take place o

the one day and that the nominations for the 10 C nncl1seats should all take place on the one day but lJ1 reo

mote pTovinces and in remote electorates the writs wouldall have to be issued on the one day in the case of the

10 and the 50 whereas nominations should close earli r

in the 1emote or prescribed parts of the State than 111

the more settled parts The only thing to be borne

in mind is the l otatiollal retirement of counClllors That

can easily be fixed up by providing tlat if a writ is reo

turned say after the 21st May wInch 18 the date the

Act seems to be wedded to the person who IS returned

dates his election back to the 21st May355 The other difficulty to be overrom is to get a

longer peTiod between nomination and pollmg We all

go out together and the writs must be issued on the one

day Therefore the Tolls automatical y close on that dayThere is no reason why the man 1Il Perth should be

allowed any more time to get on the roll than the man

in Kimberley Ido not think that matters That w uld

give you a uniform set of provisi ns espec lllg nomllla

tions and the issue of writs whIch IS desuable Sec

tion 15 raises the ery vexed question regarding pro

perty qualification356 By the CHAIR11AN Mr Gordon IS to subn t

evidence on that point Then I need not deal WIth It

357 By Hon J CORNELL I think Section 15

should go into the Electoral Act I agree As the

Assembly qualifications are embodied in t18 Electoral

Act the Council qualifications should be lllserted too

The Commission adjourned

therafte

wouldpeopll

01

TUESDAY 26th FEBRUARY 1935

Present

Hon J C Willcock ML A ChairmanHon J Cornell MLC Hon C G Latham ML AHon G Fraser ML C R R McDonald Esq ML AlIon H S W Parker ML C F T S Wise Esq 1fLAHon A Thomson M L C A R G Hawke Esq MLA

358 By the CHAIRMAN We propose to take evidence regarding the qualifications for the LegislativeOouncil W The proposal I have to put forward con

cerns Sections 15 and 16 of the Constitution Acts

Amendment Act 1899 so far as they relate to the

qualifications of Province electors I submit proposalsin lieu of the subsections of Section 15 as they appearin the Act They are as followsI Has a legal or equitable freehold estate in

possession situate in the Electoral Provinceof the clear value of Fifty pounds above all

charges and incumbrances affecting the same

II Has a leasehold estate in possession situatewithin the province of the clear annual valueof i17 Provided that the lease thereof

a has been registered in the Land TitlesOffice or the Deeds Office for theregistration of deeds

b shall when granted have been for a

term of not less than 3 vealS or con

tains a clause authorisil g the lesseeto become the purchaser of the landthereby demised

III Holc1s a lease or license from the Crownpasture occupy cultivate or mineCrown lands within the Province at a

of not less than fIO pel annum

IV i Is an inhabitant occupier as owner or tenantof any dwellinghouse within the Province ofthe clear annual value of 17 Provided thatno person shall be entitled to be registeredas an elector by reason of being a joint occu

pier of any dwellinghouseii When a person inhabits any dwellinghouse by

virtue of allY office service or employmentand the dwellinghouse is not inhabited byany person under whom the first mentionedperson serves in such office service or em

ployment such first mentioned person shallbe deemed for the purposes of the previoussubsection hereof to be an inhabitant orcu

pier of such dwelling as a tenant

iii A person shall not be deemed to be an inhabitant occupier of a dwellinghouse unlesshe or some member of his family ordinarilyl eps and has his meals therein and he

shall not necessarilv be deemed to be an inhabitant occupier tllereof by re son only ofthe fact that he or some member of hisfamily ordinarily sleeps anel has his mealstherein

iv In this section the term dwelling housemeans any structure of a permaneut ch r

acter being a fixture to the soil which isordinarily capable of being used for humanhabitation and includes part of a buildingwhen that part is separately occupied as a

dwelling Provided that when a dwellinghouse is only part of a building ancI anyother part thereof is in the occupation as a

dwelling of some person other than the occu

pier of the first mentioned part such firstmentioned part shall not be a dwelling house

within the meaning of this section unless itis structurally severed from such other partof the building and there is no direct means

f 1MPSS betwpen s11ch parts

HAROLD RICHARD GORDON Chief Electoral Officer further examined

v For the purposes of this section the followinpersons only shall be deemed to be memberof a family husband wife father mothergrandfather grandmother stepfather stepmother son daughter grandson granddaughter step son step daughter brothersister half brother half sister

I have refened to the foUl States where UppmHouses are elective namely Vietoria Tasmania aniSouth Australia and of course Western AustraliaAfter examining the statutes of the other threEStates it seemed that the one that could be madEmost applicable to V estern Australia was that em

bodying the conditions applying in South AustraliaIn Tasmania and Victoria the rolls are prepared irthe first place from assessment lists and in the seconeplace from the rolls of local authorities In SoutAustralia the claim is by the elector on a very similalbasis to that whieh we have in Western Australia ex

cepting that the rolls of municipalities or road distriets as they apply here are not accepted as a quaEfication there I suggest that one of two systemshould be adopted eitller that of the elector whmakes a statutory declaration as to his qualificationsor that the electoral lists of munieipalities and roaeboards be acte 1 on as the authority If the sub see

tions of the Act of 1899 re referred to it will bEnoted that where money is mentioned the wore

sterling appears That is a term which cannot bE

applied here to day it might be greater than thEamount fixed by legislation In my proposals I haVEaUmed the sequence of the qualifications I haVEplaced the lane1 qualifications as they apply to owner

ship first of all leasehold estate second and Crowlease third leaving the householder or inhabitantoccupier qualification to the last and omitting thEelectoral lists of any munieipality or road districtwill explain why I have put the proposals in thaioreIer The qualifieations based on land freehold OJ

leasehold shonld come together and be apart from thEpersonal qnaJifieatioll which is reqnired under householder or inhabitallt orcupier Regarding ownershipI ask that in addition to the clear value of f50 therlshould be acldeel the wonlB above an eharges aneeneumbranees affecting the same The reason ithat a number of holdings in Western Australia to

day have been vacated by the registered owners aniare held under mortgage but the registered owner

have not been released from the personal covenantcontained in the mortgages Properties have beerabandoned the registered electors have left the particnlar districts They are still the registered ownerand the Electoral Department eannot object to theiJenrolment on the ground that they no longer hold thEqualification If the words suggested are added thoSEregistered electors could be objected to on the grounthat their holdings did not come within the section 01

the Constitution and that they no longer had the f5

qnalificatioll359 By Hon A THOMSON Who would be en

titled to the vote the one who held the mortgage f Thatin the majority of instances is the Agricultural Bank O

one of the associated Banks but the greater number to

clay are controlled bv the Agricultural Bank360 By Hon T CORNELL It seems to be thl

lifference between Tweealedum ana Tweedledee bcauslsuch persons wOlll have votes as householdersW Yes iJ

to deupon

rental

ollowingnembersmother

r stepgrand

brother

e UpperlUia andnstralia

er threebe madethat em

Icustralialpared inhe secondIn Southry similartralia ex

10ad disIS a qualio systemsector who

lificationsand road

he subseeit will be

the wordcannot be

t than theals I have

s I have

r to owner

and Crowninhabitantnitting thedistrict I

als in thatfreehold or

lrt from themder house

ownershipf 50 thereeharOes and

b

reason 18

Icustralia to

owners andered ownersal covenants

l have beenleft th e partered ownerslject to theirnger hold the

added thosem the groundthe section ofr hail He j50

would be eu

rtgage That llltural Bank ofnumber to i

lems to be theeilledee

ld Y

23

I 1 t ts Thev would have abandoned their

son1e ot JeT e is ric J

Mhlings f ll S 1

61 TInt their hol1ings were not l ellO e i I uc 1

DIn lnil1ble freeholders ancl reg1stered as the

petsOlbl

owners362 Hon J CORNELL If such a person were en

roilell GS L householder OT ratepayer what more would l1e

want N IT I d tl6 Bv the CHAIRMA 01 you plocee Wl I

0 tGtc llent As our legislation stands it would p

Jto the administration that electors may quahfy

pealler too many sections It is diff1cult for the officers

lCexplajn to electors amI in fact it is often diff1cult for

the officers themselves o understa cl what is the act al

ualification of an apphcant I wlll supply typed coples

qf the qualifications in other States for purposes of

o

mpGrison Dealing with the proposals in the typeeleo

J es before you this is taken from the South AuscOl fi ft lian Act it is suggestecI that the quah catlOn 0

l seholder shall be subject to the registration o t e

lease at the Land Titles Off1ce At present the rulmg JS

that an elector who claims as a leaseholeler may be en

rolled provieleel his lease has 12 months to run

364 By Hon G FRASER You propose to alter

that to three years Yes Moreover the department

eannot Gsk for unregistered leases we have not access

to them whereas a registered lease can be l eferred to

and if it expires objeetion can be taken to the lease

holder being enrolled365 Snppose a lease with 3 years to runcontaineel

a clause authorising an extension of the lease but no

clause regarding purchase as you stipulate So long

as the lease ha l a currency and was registered at the

Titles Office no objection could be taken If the cur

rency expired objection would be taken

366 Could objection be taken to the enrolment of a

leaseholder when his lease had only 212 years to run

No so long as it Temainecl registered367 Such a leaseholder would retain the qualification

till the end of the lease Yes so long as he was a

eO istered leaseholc1er the department would have some

pl ce to which to refer in order to check his qualification At pTesent we have none

368 So long as the leaseholder got in before the ex

piration of the three years he would be entitled to re

main on the roll Yes

369 By Hon J CORNELL On the eve of a gen

eral electi n woulel your ploposal prove any more valu

able to you than the plesent law or could you ascertain

the right of a man to be on the roll in the time allowed

Leaseholder is a qualificition not frequently availed

of

370 As regards the South Province it could be

wiped out There is nothing wrong with the leasehold

qualification to day Except that it cannot be checked

371 It could be checked between elections but when

many cards are received at 6 p m on the day before the

election they could not be checked We cannot check

it but do check the qualification between eJoections

372 You would have a chance to check it undeT

your proposaH Yes because the leases woulel be

registered IunderstancI that a lease for 12 months

has not to be registered373 The only way in which you coulel check it

would be by not putting the applicant on the roll

until you had checked iH A laTge number could be

checkecl at the Titles Off1ce in the course of one day

374 I have sent down claims by freeholders and

they were enrolled but you had 14 days in which to

make inquiries The freeholder can claim to day

whether registered or not but without this provisionI would have to call in all contracts of sale and the

same applies where the claimant is a leaseholder

375 By Hon A THOMSON Suppose a farmer

submltted a claim and did not remember the number

of his lease his documents probably being in the

bank could not you obviate the need for sending the

ard back to the applicant We would have to selldIt back The qualification as registered in the Titles

ffice frequently is not held at a particular timeal s take place and we cannot test the qualificationntJ such time as the sales are registered I am re

ert ng now to Crown leases The subsection dealSl leasehold estate apart from Crown leases

nother snbscction eleals with Crown leases

376 By Hon J CORNELL YOll do not propose

to alter that No

37i By Hon H S W PARKER The quita1le

state is the one 0llC8rning which most dlfficultles

arise Coultl you not in paragnlph 1 after the worel

estate insert the words evidenee of whlch lS

available at the Deeds Titles or Lands ffice By

that means the Government would obtalll some rev

enue out of the caveats and the whole thing would be

put into proper form This would also give you as

Chief Electoral Officer an opportunity to check both

the freehold estates and the legal estates There IS

no ehed nt present I thin the department should

be afforcled an opportunity to have a heck of that

sort Even though it may not b posslble to check

the qualifications immediately pnor to an electlOn

between elections we do make many thousands of

searches at the Titles Office I would welcome any

system whieh woulel give the department some means

of checking378 By Hon T CORNELL Is it not on record

thnt these equitable freeholds are of mushroom

gJrowth Yes The matter has only shown up

prominently of Jate beeause there has been a great

development in houses that are erected under he

time payment system The proPos als I am advancmg

are solely to assist ill the admllllstratJon of the de

partment and havc no relationship to any politicalactivity

3i9 By Hon H S W PARKER The inclusion

of the words I have suggested would assist you

Yes In paragraph 3 I come to the position relating

to the holc1ing of a lease or license from the Crown

These are as thev are in the Act to day Such leases

are all registered With regard to paragraph iL in

our Act the word householder is used This term

has been confused with the word occupier The

Act says any householder occupyiI g any d e ling

house Section 16 says lf premlses are Jomtly

owned and occupied by more than one person each

one of the four persons may claim It has been ruled

that up to four honseholders in number may claim

for the one house Under the South Australian Act

the words inhabitant occupier have an open quali

fication They do not restrict the person to a

monetary value of 17 per annum as a householder

as we do here but they do restrict the occupation of

a dwelling house by joint occupiers The qnestion of

the householder qualifications has been the sllbject of

many interpretations by the law officers I wi l put

in these opinions for reference by the Commlssion

When the Constitution Act of 1889 was framed it was

not thought that flats would grow to the extent they

have grown Indeed they are of comparatively recent

growth Ihave hacl several legal opinions concerning

the qualification of people who occupy flats One

opinion was acted on for many years with the result

that enrolment was denied to all persons who occupiedflats A recent decision of the present Solicitor Gen

eral has placed an interpretation on the occupants of

flats which permits them to claim provided that the

occupant has unrestricted access to the flat as dis

tinct from a communal access Under such conditions

the occupant of the flat can claim as a householder

Mr Walker has given extensive opinions on the mat

ter and apparently the judges he has quoted have

come to the conclusion that a house can be horizontal

or perpendicular and that one dwelling house can be

above another instead of being affixed to the groundWe have tried to explain to electors their various

1Jualifications but have found it difficult to do 80 in

the case of occupants of flats RUlings have been

given to the effect that if a person oceupies a flat on

a leasehold tenure he can claim enrolment as a lease

hoJcler A person cannot claim on the householder

qualification if he has a communal interest in a flat

I refer to people who have a co on right of en

trance into a flatt it being possible to close such en

trance against them The present interpretation is

that if a person is the occupant of a flat to which no

one else has access and the flat contains all the usual

appurtenances of a cIwelling house he can claim to be

enrolled That is the interpretation in force to day

The South Australian legislation apparently providesmeticulously a description of the inhabitant occupierwhich is similar to our householder qualification I

may read the South Australian descriptionis an inhabitant occupier as owner or

tenant of any dwellinghouse within the province

of thc clear annual vnlue of f17 Provided thatno person slwJI lw cntltlcrl to lw rpgoistcred as allI hl tor bY t l OJl 1 being 1 ioillt o llpil l ofall r1 cllill ltllls W IIt 1 8011 illltabits allllweIJinQhous II iltoc of anv 0 1itC Hervice or

emploYl wnt 1lld the dwellinghollse is not inhabitedby any perSall under whom the first mentionedperson SCl l es in sueh ollice scrliee or el1lploment suth first mentioned person shall he deemedfor the plrpose of the P iOllS sllbscetion hereofto be an inhnbitant oteul icl of snth dwelling nsa tenant

Another question has ariscn witlt reg nd to that TIlerefident mcdieal offieer of tI c T algoollie hospital hasa separate rlweing house of whieh he has full eontrol It is rulcd that he tannot cJaim as a householder The resident magistrate occupying a GOernlllent building in Kalgoorlie eau claim as a honseholder PersonaJIY J am not able to see the difference but the lew 1 interpretation is that tJ 8 medicalofficer eannot claim and that thc resirlent magistratecan elaim That states the positirll1 in regard tomany others on the sam e footing

380 By Hon T CORNELL But you rlo not giveeffect to that illogical ruling to day 1hat is theposition as it stands in the Act If anybody objectedthe elector woulrl Jose his qualifkation The SouthAustralian Ad goes ou to define the inhabitnnt OCC11

pier of a rlwellillg house He or some member of hisfamiJy has to ordina1iJy sleep anrl hiwe his mealstherein And e en tlJat is not sllflieient qun1ificationbecause apparent ly it is 1eemed neessal to sunoundit with conditions You allnot 10 those thins forthe purpose of enroln ent Later on the South Australian Act defines the term dwellillg hon8e as

being a structure of fl permanent character whiCh isordinarily capable of bei11g useel for human habitation Finally where the flat question crops up theSouth Australian Act definitely sets out the position

Provided tlwt when a dwellinghouse is onlypart of a building aud any other part thereof isin the occupation as a dwelling of some personother than the occupier of the first mentionedpart sueh first mentioned piHt shall not be a

dwellinghonse withiu the meaning of this sectionunless it is strnetnrally sevcred from such otherpart of the hnilding and there is 110 c1irect meansof access between snch parts

That as a matter of fact is thc inteljwetation we are

acting on to rlay How8 er it is not in our Act381 Bllt for that we would have a lodger vote

That is actually the position On which we are acting today but only as the result of the legal opinion whichappears on this file The Sonth Australian Act goeseven further in defining the members of the familysetting out fully the qua lifieations

382 That is quite neecssar The l1lflin thing I am

asking fOT is that the term householder should be soqualified that there can be no mistakillg by electors or bydepartmental officials what it means While on thissubject I may mention that the words clear annualalue are used ill our Act and that there is an opinion

on this file g iven by the ex Solicitor General Mr Sayeranel reading as follows

nut a cekly or mouthJv tenant or a tenant forone year onlycurren t et the date of his claim inmy opinion has not a leasehoIder tate of the annual value within the meaning of para 3 of Section 15 of the Constitution Act Amendment Act1899 Until the words clear llll1ual value receiYe judicia interpretation I advise that the mean

ing sJlOu rl be c1eemerl to be tI e fair rent at whic lthe premises would onlinmily let the tenant paying rates and taxe

That has never received a legal interpretation whichapparently according to Mr Sayer it requires Mymain difficulty arises on the subject of the right of elecrors to be 111 0 e 1 hy irtue of their appearing on theelectoral roll of a municipality or a road board Atithe present time under the Constitution Act AmendmentAct the electoral list of anv municipality or the electoral list of any road boa11 is the indisputable qualification of an elector to claim enrolment for a provinceIsuggest that when that Act was passed in 1899 it waspassed on the basis of the funicipalities Act of 1895

4

Conditions then were different from what they appeain the subsequent JlTunicipaJities Art of 190G ThLlgi latlll h d I elorl it ill 1 0l a Iifferent set of eillllllJsl lI1r cs frOlll lllt sllhs1ulJtly arose in 190G See

1 jOlt 7 of the Tlll1ieip lIjtjps A t of 18 L JcndEvery British snbject of fllll age being residen

within the Colony an l not subject to any legal illeapacity 1vho I on the first day of September ilany year is and since the thirtieth day of Junnext preceding has heen sc ised of or in oecupati01of as owner or oecupier any rateable lands withiJthe limits of any nl1lllicipality and 2 has paira rates anrl assessments rlue anrl payable by hinto the eouncil of the said municipality up to ththirtieth day of June in such year and 3 has nOl

e n si e the first lnJ of Tnnuary next precec1inpin receipt of flny public relief 0 alms shall be entitled to have his name inserted upon the municipalelectoral list for such munieipality and the wardelectoml list for each and every ward in which anysuch lands arc situate

That qualification was one on which the 1899 Constitution Act was based and J submit that on reading itit has all the appearance of being intended toapply to persons who actnally pay the l ates attaching1r am freehol l or leasehold land To da the positionis that the ocrupier of any premises whether they bepart of a building or an office in a building who isfonnd at a certain time by the canVflsser of the munieipaJity to be in occupation call be enrolled on the municipal roll anrl I have obtained from the Perth munieipality a description of the conditions under which theseenrolments are effected It reads

A house to house canvass is made each year andthe person responsible to the landlord for the rentonly is plaeed on the rate list

That house to house canVflSS refers apparently to dwelling honses

Fhts and offices Personal inquilies are made asto the names of rent payers foreach flat in the building and that person is placed on the rate list Thesame method is rrdopted iu cspect to officesAlthough none of these persons clually pay ratesthe council hold each rent payer responsible in theevent of the owner or landlord refusing to pay therates In other words the council may claim unpaidrates due from the various rentees

383 Bv the CHAIRMAN We want to cut out municipal rat lists and everything like thaH I want toexplain 111i r0asons

384 Hon G FRASER In my estimation thesystem has many redeeming features

385 The WITNESS That the intention was for theactual ratepayers to be enrolled becomes evident whenthe dehate on t1 e 1809 Amendment Act is referred toA memher of the Lcg islnti c Couneil speaking on theConstitution Amendment Act 18H9 on the 31st October1800 sair Hansarrl page 089

Of course hon members may know if they havestuc1ie l tl e mnnieipaI Aets at all that no man s namewin ever Jw struck off an electoral list for a mnnieipality as providerl in this Bill The name is notput on unless the person pays his rates hut in thisBill the idefl is apparently that a name having b enput llll shan not he struek off owing to non paymen of rates

Under Section 407 of the present Municipalities Actl llt s in th e first instance are payable by the orcupieralthough at the option of the tolllcil recoverahle fromthe owner The section says

Provided that if rec vc red from the occupier hemay dednct rates from rent payahle to the ownerunless there is a special lIgreement to the contrall

The occllpier s liability is a transient one It does n tahide itll him He is only t ere paying rent and tlwland or the bmldmg IS the mall1stay of the municipalitlfor the colJection of its rates That seems to me to bethe intended interpretation Inquiries made show thatin many instances o cupants of offices pay rent onlyThey are not responslble fo any liability in respect ofrates on the property of wInch their offices form a partThe department have found it difficult to discriminatebetween the occupant of an office paying f1 a week rent

1jI

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a d ell n lCrson who is paying i1 1 week rent for a

111cr anl l 1 l t 1 l1 not appca1ing Ill t 18 llllllllupa c c ora st

room aIll 1

tl1 i llj1il J l tlOll JI 1 SUhS ql l t Y

s

1 111 1 so th lt r ils were no re I erI h l rson

fro111 rr l o upin wllO WS In OlTUlatlon as a

f a bankrupt estate 01 a 1 q1ll laror of 1 com

trnfi ee o

o in it wOlll appear that hrruility fol the

pan t f nltcs 1nel indnsion on tbe eleltoral 1011

paymen I fl I r 1 t

5 ownership of the lam lat JS t 1lll l llUa 0

0111 it woul1 alpl 1 suggest to lIe lomnllsslOJI

1

t tlll SC proyisions of tbe lulllclpahtlCs Ad all l

Roa Distlids A t a tllC Y staJlc to llay oYer

1 those at the ollstltnhon c t

le3eSG By Hall 1 UHKBLL Is t wt anI reason

whv you shoul WIpe ant he lrOnsH ns 1lt gethedf m merelv placlng be on the COnJlillSSlOn the

vieaof tlle Iepaltment In my opil ion the sections

of the Ads I kwe referred to overncle those of the

Constitntioll Act at llc rnte theY 1111 e that ap

e DJll e the sedllll of lIe onstJt11tlOn Ad

peaI llt 1it wonld IIJ 111 that sa TIll lIS th UH or In l mJ e

cualification is l II1 11 the easdlOlc er havmg

Jblierations similar to that of the OW1 ll III l speet of

the esponsibilit I for the pnymcnt of rates IS a per

n qualifie as an ehtor fere qUIlhfl atlOn WJth

t liahilit1 respecting yremises or land ho111 1 not

qurrlify such rr person for enlohwnt fol a pronnee

although he may lJe a plrson el1g ble as an elldol for

a lll11llieipality where there IS pnlll1lJly a lalnl1ty to

the 11111nicipal c011ncl for ratcs That I tll nk covers

all I have to say with regarc to mUlllllpahties The

next section deals with the preprrration of road boar l

electoral ToIls The same conc1itions apply there as

to municipal roIls Once the eleefol is on the roll he

possesses a east ilon qualifieation whieh eannot be

1isputecl The methoc1 of preparatlOn of a road boall

1011 was reeently blought unc1er my notice Under

Section 3S of the Roac1 Distliets Aet the roll is pre

pared by the officials f the boal c1 on illfolmation

ascertainec1 bv means of a eanyass or referenec to the

rate book JJ l the roll or list so prepared has to be

eompletee by the 14th January eaeh year anc1 ex

hibited outsie e the boarc1 s premises If any person

desires to haye his nmne ac1dec1 to the roll either as

owner or oecupiel he must ma1 e applieation in the

preseribec1 form llloyision being made for sueh appli

eation to be signec1 I vms informed that in the in

stance I refer to the signatures to the forms were

typed in instead of being written by tbc applicantsand it was proposed to ac1cl their names to the elee

toral roll I was intelestec1 in the matter beeause a

roll prepalec1 under sueh eonc1itions would supply the

authority by whieh such persons eoulc elaim as

province eleetors hy yi tue of tlleir names appearingon a roac1 oard 1011 Tn that instance it was pro

posed to ac1c1 1 2 names to the particular roll coneenJerl

and in each instanee the signatures of the applieantsas eleetors appearee in type on the forms 1 8

oCeupier s liability to pay rates is as I have alreac1ypointec1 out of a transient nature He is relieved ofit by being authorised to eclue the amount of ther tes from the rent payahle b him The JIunicipali

bes Act anc1 Road Distl icts Act permit the preparabon of ro11s from information suppliee as a result ofa eanyass The name of the perSall who ultimately

pay the rates might not appear on the electoral 1011of the IDeal autholit The lo al authoritv s 1011 isnot necessarily a rollof persons who actually pay the

rates The person who happens to occupy the

prenllses on the day of the inquiry may be ratedThere may he many other occupiel s l uring the course

of the year If he is rated and the rates remain

unpaid are the Tates recoyerable flOlll some subsequent occupied Is there a transfeTable right byOC ulllers of their enTolments as electors All these

thnis affect l ovince rollsu81 It is assUlned that the Tates form part of the

OCCUpIer s rent and so they do Onle the name ofsuch an inc1ividual appeal s on the 1011 it cannot 1 e

removec1 Its appearance there cannot be questionedunder the 01c1 method

388 If the Toac1 board were to remove the name

f that inc1ivic1ual vou coulc1 then remove his name

1rom the province Toll Unc1er the suggestions I

lav1e mac1e with regard to enrolments affecting ownerslJr easeholc1ers I submit to the Commission the elec

25

toral rol s of the local authorities sho111d treatedill th sa 11 1I111lllln It tlll egiRtl ltiOll of lnll1 ill the

rritlenic l of 1 1li1

111 1 p lrtlltl llt Ill a ase at

th l ill 1 11 1111 111 111 sllollld lJC us d 11re1for tl l11lpnst of Ollfillllillg oYll llBhip 01 the Jlosition oI th il lhitallt ol 11picr qualitication and

SI101111 not he used as n q11nlification for t proYinceepctor The CiJ d of what is dOlle to day is that

where l ngc b11il lings an llC l l ned there i a multi

plieitv of ledors For instance there are a greatlJUmhCl of persons yho eoulcl be enrollecl in respect of

the 1 11 l 11ililing j l h on ulier of one r olll in

that hnilc1ing on1 111ldcl thc present system be en

ro11e as an oledor for the muni ipality of Perth and

lllight suhsequentl lodge his claim faT enrolment for

the proyince On that point 1 desire to again quotefrom Hansnnl of 1 99 A memlwI of the Leo islatiyp ARselllhl who rClll nks are rCl orded on p gc

1226 when diS11SRing thc Bill s i l

No plovision appealed in the Bill in regard to a

eompany consisting of a number of persons who

might all claim to be electors by reason of the value

of their joint qualification There has been trouble

on that point in Victoria as in the case of the iIel

bdurne Club when 220 members claimec1 to be puron the Toll by irtue of their dub membership aw

faT some time they were put on and exercisec1 their

vote The Attorney General would remember that

and he would understand the pointAt this stage the member put the question to tbc thell

Attorney General i i Did this clause sufficiently providagainst that The Attorney General replied that

it did I quote that extlact to inc1icate the intention of

Parliament at that time namely that you cannot puton the Toll an unlimited number of persons for one builc1

ingS9 That applies to freeholclers as well as to lease

holders Ihave in minc1 one instance where there are

ten joint freeholcleTs Four of them have applied to be

registered and the other six have to be refused enrol

ment390 By Hon H S W PAR KER That can also

apply to estates where a large building has been left to

a large family Yes four of the OWlleTS coulc1 be en

rolled and the others woulc1 have to remain off the roll

The last matter I wish to refer to is not mentioned in

the Act but it is one of importance to the 1epaTtmentIf the provinee rolls for this State are inspectec1 it will

be founc1 that tlley contain the names of a laTge llUmber

of electors who are no longer Tesident in the State We

make every effort to ascertain their whereabouts Ve

seaTch the records at the Titles Office but we have to

mark their claim cards ac1dress unknown The onlyadc1ress we can place against their nallles on the pro1in0e

roll despite all our efforts is that which appears on

their claim carc1s as their latest adc1resses available to

the department I suggest that where after a perioc1of three months and after the department has sent a

notifieation to the individual concelnecl asking him to

eUTol for the Assembly and be fails to do so an objec

tion to l s enrolment should be allowed Should the name

of that inc1ividual be removed from tlle roll an1 he sub

sequently returns to the State 11 ill not Le lisquaJifiedbut can be re enrolled At present tlw rolls are full of

names respecting which candidates frequently SRY to

us This man has been out of tl e State for years

lYe kuow it quite well hut wu annot placr the ine i

1iduals We wonld he glad to fine them if we could

In many instances e kno t1 e peTsons conce111 1 are

out of the State and not likelv to return Fne n those

conc1itions the depaTtment is ca lled ullon to snpply infor

mation that is not obtainable and the State is burclene

with the cost of printing a large nUl11bel of lwmes on

the electoral rolls although those namcs will never be

used at an election That accounts in a large measure

for the low percentage of votes cast at some provinceelections

391 Bv Hon A THOMSON If I were to move

from Har est Terrnee to Havelock st I unc1erstand I

wonlc1 have to put in R new claim carc1 for enrolmenH

That is so

392 Could that notbe simplified by merely notifyingthe registrad Ifnotifieation of the change of address

is given to us in writing we will acoopt it

393 The present methocl is rather cumbersomeWe will accept a written notification of change of adlres8 IVe like to get a l OW rhim rar l heran8e tlcards are in general use hut if we get written notiucrltion we alter the address on the card and embody a

reference to the letter which we place on the file as

an indication of our authority to make the alterationWith regard to Upper House Enrolments we go furtherthan that Should an elector daim for a fresh addressfor the Assembly leaving his Council enrolment intactwe write to him at Jlis new Ass8mblv address and askhim if he still retains his province qualification t

entitle him to enrolment If he replies that he loes thenwithout putting him to the neeessity of IJroviding a new

province card we alter his adiress on his province card

and alter the roll as well394 By Hall G FRASER That would apply only to

a person changing his addresfl within the one provinceNo if we can get the address we alter the enrolment

accordingly irrespective of where the elector may beWe alter the address where the department can ascer

tain the details at some future date395 Say he has a householcler qualification he must

fill in the card Yes396 rhat is only in the case of a freeholder say he

is registered for the house in which he is livirlg and he

goes elsewhere then you merely change the address Ifthere is any change in the qualification he must fill in a

fresh card That is so

397 By Hon J CORNELL Regarding the strik

ing off the Legislative Council roll the names of peopledomiciled outside the State has there been any greatinconveni ence caused to the department The only in

convenience caused has been to candidates going up forelection It is inconvenient to the department to this

extent that we do not put the card into the index untilwe have exhausted every avenue of ascertaining the person s Assembly address Ve send out three or fournotices to endeavour to obtain the information We makea search in the Titles Office to ascertain whether the person is still qualified and eventually the card goes intothe index and it is endorsed Qualification O K addressunknown

398 I can quote a number of instances One is thatof a resident of Boulder whose whole property was illWestern Australia His name was taken off the roll because you could not find his acldress He came back i 0

the State when an ejection was taking place and was

funous because he could not vote It is possible forsuch a thing to take place1 Yes

399 By Hon H S W PARKER Could you not

provide something to this effect who shall have residedin Western Australia for six months If a man goesaway for a trip for six 01 12 months 01 more he is stilla resident of Western Australia IVe make inquiriesI could mention the names of many persons who are con

stantly coming and going400 By Hon J CORNELL You say that the rate

p y r pmvision should he struck out that would be pena lIs111 g 111 some cases people in remote parts as comparedwit a man who say was Ilext to the town hall A golrlnunll1g company may be paying f100 in rates and inthat case you put the name of the attorney on the roll

That is so

401 By Hon H S W PARKER Presumably the

attorney has a householder vote The same thing applies with regard to members of the Upper House re

prr esentillg the North Proyince They are not enrolledfor that province

402 By Hon J CORNELL There is another instance that can be quoted and it is not so much in thecity as in the country towns A husband may own bMiness premises and residential premises He can only beenrolled once Yes

403 He might be the biggest business man in thetown and the biggest ratepayer and under your proposalhe can only be enrolled once but if his wife owned thefreehold both could be enrolled Iltat is so

404 Is it not a fair thing that if he pays rates inJlS lfe s name on the premises they are living in andIII lus own name on hIS bus ess premises they shouldhave an equal llght 0 vote lust as in the case of theperson who by deed of gift presents his wife with a

6

honse Iam pointing out wh t I think ITe the abusesof the plCRent SYStC11l1

4n i Bv Hon H R Vi PARIER In paragraphh I elml2 0 I yom prnpos ls yon say shall when

gl1nted have heen fnl a term of not less than threeyears or contains a e ause authorising the lessee to become the purehaser of the land thereby demised Youire suggesting that it is flimsy t give an option holderthe right to vote T have taken these suggestions fromthe Act of another State

406 ThC1n you suggest is an inhabitant occupieras ownr 01 tenant of any dwelling house within the

provinec f the clerlr annual value of J017 JJ Would itnot be simpler all ronnd to say is an inhabitant occu

pier of any dwelling house within the province Thatmay be so

407 Can you ten us whetheT the words owner or

tenant hav any special meaning Many owners are

ccupieTs of theiT premis cs and the wOTd occupieras it appears in Sections 10 and 16 has been wronglyillterpTeted

408 1 hen lgain you say the clear annual value ofn7 Is it possible for an inhabitant occupier to bethe occupier of a dwelling house that is not worth f17a year Under the Road Districts Act you can be thC

owneT of premises erected on unalienated Crown landand you ean be cnTolled The nature of the premisesmakes no diffeTcnce

409 Is there any need for the words of the clear1lmual value of H7 JJ I am not suggesting that thefigUle should be more or less than n7 but can you fromour experience tell me whether an inhabitant occupier

could possibly have a place of less than a clear annualvalue of n7

410 The CHAIRMAN On the timber leas s

throughout the State where there are 2 000 or 3 000people the rents charged are 4s 5s or rerlmps 6s a

week A majority of those people are not entitled to

enrolment because of this discriminating section411 Hon G FRASER In ordinary circumstances

the premises are wOTth that figure412 3 By Hon H S W PARKER Next you say

that a person shall not be deemed to he an inhabitantoeCupieT unless he or some member of his family ordinarily sleeps or has his meals therein From my readingof the subsection it appears to be an attempt to circullvent any aetion by a person to use the premises for thepurpose of becoming a resident occupier Would it not

cause a lot of confusion to you as clTawn I No thereare many places partlcularly in the country where a

father occupies the main premises and sons occupyother houses on the same land

414 1he CHAIRMAN That would not make anydifference They could all claim for the properties all

which they resided415 Hon H S W PARKER I think it is in

tended to coyer a person such as a navvy who maybe away for months at a time He would ordinaTilysleep at home The same applies to a commercialtTayeller

nG The WITNESS It might be amended tvCOVel the point made by Mr ParkeI Many inhvlduals aTe away for considerable peliods and theelectoT might be objected to on the round that heclid not ordinarily sleep there thou l some memberof his family might sleep there

b

417 By Hon T CORNELL TheTe are thousandsof women on the roll as householders and the actualhouseholder is the husband I do not know wherethey are

418 By Hon H S W PARKER When a mallis at home only occasionally his wife gets the yoteIt might easily apply in this State because many electors leave home for lengthy periods

4 9 Take shearers Take employees of the Wyndham J1eat Vorks who leave Perth for six or sevenmonths of the year

420 They would ordinarily sleep and have theirmeals at home Yes and be away only temporarily

421 I cannot see the effect of the words or somemember of is familY Those words would retainthe quahficatlOn for hlm so long as his wife residedthere QUIte a number of emplo ees of the Wyndham Meat Vorks elaime l enrolment for the district

o

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premises

the clearthat the

TOU fromoccupier

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commercial

mended tv

Many inds and thend that he

ne member

l thousandsthe actual

now where

hen a man

the Votel many clec

E the wyndlix or seven

have thcirtemporarilY

ds or s01l1ewould retainwife resided

the Wyndthe district

i8I

f Kimberley I found that they had permanentlOmes in the metropolitan area and owing to that Iac

they claimed e1l1olment for one of the metroh

t 1Il provinlc 1 Pllwcl to t1lc 1 the rule 1 au

cannot claim ior hlllLerley awl still make your plaee

f liviner Perth You can have one or the other I

bjectcd to their being ell1olled for Kimberley

422 Suppose a man and his wife were separated the

w fe had the custody of the children had a home and

h claimecl He would 110t ordinarily sleep or reside

there423 But it says he or some member of his

family If you read on you will find it says that

he shall not neces rily be deemed a resident occupier

only by reason of the faet that he or some member of

his family ordinarily sleeps and has his meals there

424 What do those words mean Itwould be sub

terfuge on his part if he claimed

425 By Hon J OORNELL Suppose a house and

land agent had half a dozen houses on his hands to let

what would prevent his putting people on the roll

Members of the family are defined

426 Hon H S W PARKER I thinl11 we ought to

strike out the words or somc member of his family

427 Hon J CORNELL If a man claims as a house

holder he should have some proof that he is domiciled

there by himself or someone else

428 Hon G FRASER No by himself

429 Hon J OORNELL His wife should get the

vote if he cannot430 Hon G FRASER She would

431 Mr McDONALD There should be only one in

habitant occupier for such a hause If a man is away

heclaims to be an inhabitant occupier because his family

sleep there432 The OHAIRMAN rhe provision worked arbi

trarily during the war

433 Hon J CORNELL The women got the vote

434 The OHAIRMAN Hundreds did not

435 The WITNESS Ve do not permit women to be

enrolled as honseholders unless we make inquiries as to

their status436 By Hon J CORNELL Reference to the clear

annual yalue of t17 is not Ionnd in the South Anstralian

Act No437 Ihave no objection to the new proposals exccpt

that I question the worels which is ordinarily capableof being used for human habitation and the clear

annual value of f17 After all a house is a structure

in which a man is prepared to live That is why I

suggest that road board and municipal electoral lists

might be used inconfirmation of values not for the pur

pose of enrolments438 Hon G FRASER I do not think we should in

clude the referenee to the f17 clear annual value

439 Hon J CORNELL That is your policy440 Hon G FRASER It would not affect me at

all441 The CHAIRMAN It would not affect anyone

m the metropolitan area

442 Mr HAWKE Coulcl not we amplify the defin

ltIon of dwelling house and cut out the reference to the

hlear annual ya Ine of n7 I want to provide aOainst

umples

h443 on J CORNELL Then the registrar would

ave to mspect them and he could not inspect all

th444 The WITNESS Under the Road Districts Act

e manner in which a roll might be prepared must bec epted by the Electoral Department Section 5 con

ms an interpretation of owner If a person haswltho t t1 1

u ltle any tent camp or other habitation on any

ian belonging to another person or is in the unauthore cupation of any Crown land he shall be deemed to

Oe e owner of the land on which the habitation stands

bne dOf the objects is to get men on the roll for roadoar elections

i45

1y Hon T OORNELL Suppose a person puts

Let alJ and IS rated at O5 in some road district

toe Instance Leonora People there are allowed

holquat on own blocks They claimed as house

highers the rIght to be enrolled but were not rated

stitutmough to conform to the provisions of the Con

tary nttct I referred all such claims to the secre

Ie l oa l hoard under Sedion 35 of the Elec

toral Act and asked him what rental the premises in

which these people were living could reasonably be

expected from them He gavo me the figure and on

that figure I either olJjcctCll to or al1owoel the enrol

ment446 Did vou not allow the enrolments first and

make inquiri s afterwards No I made all inqniries

first447 Bv Hon G FRASER With the fI7 clear

annual v lue in the metropolitan area you cannot

have much idea as to which claims you ought to in

vestigate We have a pretty fair idea of the locali

ties and what thev are like

448 Bv Mr MoDONALD If a claimant is paying5s a week rent he will hardly al1ply for enrolment

because he knows he will be liable to a penaltyWe had the Solicitor General s opinion that the

occnpant of a house need not necessarily be payingrent so long as he is occupying a house of that par

ticular value449 By Hon H S W PARKER With the provi

sions it is proposed to make you will have additional

opportunity of checking all these things Yes

450 By the CHAIRMAN Will you have drafted a

clause defining habitation that will give peoplewho have reasonable qualifications the right to vote

Yes451 By Hon G FRASER You are proposing to

cut out the joint householder Yes

452 I do not think that is quite Iair There are

many families who previously lived in a house by

themselves but are now living with perhaps two or

three other families in the same house It is their

home They are paying the rent direct to the land

lord allll have their own part of the house to live in

Under Subsection 5 of what I propose you would

apply to these people the same rule as would be ap

plied to inhabitants of certain types of flat

451 You aTe rntting out the joint householder and

the flat ite Yes unless the claimant is in a position to say that his house is his castle

454 B3 Hon H S W PARKEfR You are cutting

out the people who are living in one honse as a com

mon residen ce Yes455 By Mr McDONALD The principle of the

franchise for the Legislative Council seems to me to

be that the elector shall have shown that he has

nndertaken the respoIlsil ilities of citizenship in a

permanent way or in other words that he has a stake

in the country Take the example of a building like

that of the A M P Societ3 Under your proposals the

tenants of those offices unless they hold a three years

lease wouM not be eligible to vote for the LegislativeCouncil That is so It may be by a lease or under

a special agreement456 At present such tenants have a vote by being

on the mnnicipa1 occll iers lis Yes

457 A man may therefore l e a tenant of a snite

of oillces at t300 a year and vet he would not have a

vote in respect of those offices unless he paid the

rates That is so

458 Vhcreas anothcr man in the same province

paying 6s 6cl a week for a dwelling house would have

a vote There woul l not lie one such case in this

particulal province I shoulrl imaginei459 Take the case of a man in another province

paying 6s 61 a week rent he woulel have a vote

Yes aml the liability to pay rates

460 The two cases I gave would appear to repre

sent an anomaly but I thinl you say the anomalv is

difficult to remedy because if an office holder ere

given a vote it would then be harel to refuse to givea vote to a man who has a room in a ilwellinghouse

That is so That is the difficulty we find

461 By the CHATRMAN Or a man who has a

room in a hatcH Yes462 Mr McDONALD In other words what may

be described as a lodger s vote in one s nse Like

Mr Gordon I 10 not at the present moment see thmeanS of reconciling the two and so Ijust propose to

give the mat ter consideration463 The CHAIRMAN The whole position bristles

WIth anomahes464 The WITNESS What I seek to riner befor

the Commission is that the rate lists of m11ll i jna ities

anrl road boarcls to dav are ostensibly list of those

persons who are responsible for the upkeep of premis s

responSIble for some property qualification and that is

a matter which is reviewed by the municipalities and

road hoards eaelJ year Iwcause from that source they de

rive their revenue It is to tlle m 1ll who actually doe

pJY the r ltcs that 1 tltink the provisions of the Consti

tution Act are intended to apply not to the erson

ho is merelv an occupier from week to week who hap

pens to be the occupier on the day on which the roll is

lrepared there being another occupier the n8xt week

The intention of the Constitution Act appears to me w

be that the land and the appurtenances thereto shall bear

the responsibility of the property qualification and not

altogether the individual There is provision for the

individual under the househol ler or occupier qualification

465 By the CHAIRMAN There are comparativelyfew people in responsible positions who have not an

establishment of some kind for which they can claim

a vote I am not suggesting that a ratepayer who

actually pays rates should not be enrolled I think the

Commission might consider the point466 In 90 per cent of such cases would not the man

have a house in respect of which he would have a house

holder qualificationf Yes467 Mr McDONALD There is an aspect which has

not yet been discussed whether or not it is desirable

to consWer the question of taking votes in places like

hospitals468 The CHAIRMAN I have a letter on that sub

ject from Mr James A Moore dated the 21st instant

which Imay readThere is one aspect of the Electoral Act dealing

with the method of taking votes from patients at

the several public and private hospitals in the

28

metropolitan an l suhurhan areas that inmy opinionsllnuld lli l1l1I lldt d FrClIll 111 eXpCl iClleC of over

30 palS IS a J1os1 d o c ofJi cl IS well as actingas registrar retul1ling onicer l1ld presiding officer

I have come in contact with some strange experiences My idea is that for the purpose of obtaining

postal votes in the a loVe institutions one or two

officials of the Electoral Department should be ap

pointed469 The vVITNESS At the last Assembly elections

the hospib 18 genera11rcfuse l access to cany ssers and

postal vote oflicers r Inangcd then for three or fourmembers of the Pnblic Service to give their own time

or whatever time they could spare from their duties io

iltknd the Perth Hospit31 to tah postal votes Mr

Moore was ostensibly employed hy the Electoral Departlllent for that work He was on tap at the hospital forthat purpose As requests came in he attended and took

the votes of sick people He took a large proportion of

that class of vote recorded in the Perth Hospital and

othel hospitals Tliere is no re1SOIl why under the pro

posed legislation such applications could not be made

and they would be attended to The department like to

assist people in that position We arranged with theauthorities at the Perth Hospital to fix stated times when

lcpartmental oficers would be in attendance470 By Hon J CORNELL Section 71 of the

Q1leenslnnh Elections Act is very comprehensive section

read and is more rigid than what you proposef The

provisions of that section are very much along the lines

of what is proposed in the amending Bill

The Commission adjourned

H

In

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0

G

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Ptl

a

Atlrr

ttc

11

I

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n

it

ilh

a

n

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lf

I

tI

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o

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t

11

kf

laO

leto

heen

heLon

helles

29

APPENDIX A

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Public Service Inspector s OfficeCommonwealth Bank Building 8th Floor

Martin Place Sydney 16th June 1931

Dear Sir

OverlappirAl awl DuplicationElectora7 Branche9

1 Yon will remember that we discussed very briefly inMelbourne the prospects of utilising one authority in con

nection with Electoral work tor the Commonwealth and State Governments

2 I havc been giving some further consideration to this among other subjects

The two aspects for discussion seem to be

1 the possibility ot a joint roll to meet Commonwealth and State Legislative Assembly requirements being

collected and maintained by one Electoral authority and

2 the possibility of condncting elections by one set of officers

3 For the moment I snggest that we consider only the former because it would seem prima facie that there

may be vcrv strong reasons to support the view that each Government should be responsible for the conduct of its own

elections The occurrence of say aState election and a Commonwealth election or a referendum at or about the same

time misrht producc difficulties In addition the Government would no dOllbt prefer to be able to deal with one of its

owo officers in making arrangements for an election rather than with one who is primarily the representative of another

Government

4 I snggest therefore that we leave the subiect at the co ordination of arrangements forthe concluct of elections

for later consideration and direct our immediate attention to the possibility of eliminating expenditure in connection with

the collection and maintenance of two electoral rolls

5 You are aware that the suhject was discussed at the Premiers Conference in February 1911 It was then

pointed out that in the preparation of rolls for both Commonwealth purposes and Legislative Assembly elections in all

the Statcs except Queensland and Western Australia the machinery of the Commonwealth is utilised by the State

authorities

6 Itwas urged that if Western Australia and Queensland cameinto line with New South Wales Victoria South

Australia and Tasmania definit e economies would result The record shows that the Premier of South Australia stated

that the scheme was working very satisfactorily inthat State and that by adopting the Commonwealth roll the Govern

ment of South Amtralia had ohtained the benefit of the compulsory enrolment provisions in the Commonwealth law

7 The Premier of Queensland said that he was under the impression that a recommendation had been submitted

that Queensland shonld Gome under the scheme and Iamnow in communication with my colleague Mr Story in regard

to the participation of that State

8 Sir Tames Mitchell at the conclusion of the discussion intimated that he would give the matter consideration

9 I refer the matter now for your investigation I desire particularly that it should be understood that I do not

lUge that the maintenance at a joint roll for your Legislative Assembly and for Commonwealth purposes should be per

formed by theCommonwealth Electoral Branch merely as a means of enlarging the activity of the Commonwealth Depart

ment I am influenced by t he8e facts

i That it has peculiar facilities for the work by reason of its contact with the Postal Service and the

opportunity it has for utilising the staff of that Department in keeping the roll in up to date order as

a day to day job and

ii That the work is being performed by the Commonwealth in the maiority of the States and uniformity

is desirable

10 The adoption of a ioint roll would save the taxpayer both as a citizen of Vestern Australia and of the Com

monwealth the amount some thousands of pounds per annum by which the joint expenditure can be reduced

11 T suggest that as the Commonwealth is performing the duty of keeping the joint roll for the other States

Itwould be very desirable that Western Australia should fall into line

2 Unless om subsequent inquiries render snch a course necessary such an arrangement would not in any way

n rlere WIth the local control of the conduct of elections All that would happen would be that the election would be

te on a roll kept up to date by one instead of two authorities

th13 The usual arrangement with other States is that the State pays an amount representing half the cost of printing

he rolls and the Commonwealth pays for the staffnecessary fortheir maintenance and also bears half the cost of printinge rolls

14 I am unable to hazard an estimate as to the amount of saving to Vestern Australia but making a rongh

JmatlOn by relating conditions inQueensland to those inWestern Australia Ishould think thesaving to your State

not be less than f3OOO a year

m hn For your information I may state that uncleI the joint roll system in Victoria where the population is very

cic

greater than ill Western Allstralia it has been possible to provide for all State electoral work including work in

enta to mamtaltling a Legislative Council roll being performed by an Electoral Officer one clerk and one typist

rnittedl 1 uu 1entand tlmt the Legislative Cou cil roll in Vestern Allstra a is based upon claims for enrolment sub

form thY pmhfied electors and III thIS respect dJlfers somewhat from the YlCtOrlan system where the ratepayers roll

s e real basis of the Legislative Council roll

80

17 Under the circumstances existing in WesteIllAustralia T see no reMon why yourLegislative Council roU shouldnot be kept along with your Assembly r01l by the one set of officers

18 Isuggest that there is a duplication of effort in regard to these rolls which can be eliminated and that in thematerial savings which are possible the State will benefit more than will the Commonwealth LowC

repn19 If the views expressed herein are in accord with your own perhaps yon can ascertain tbc views of your Gov

ernment

20 If a general endorsomcnt of the idea of using a joint 1011 is given the details can be worked out in consultation between us in collaboration with the Commonwealth and State Electoral authorities orthe matter can if necessarybe left to them subject to endorsement by our respective Governments

contalen

rolls

With kind regardsYours faithfu1ly

Sgd J S DUNCANas Ie

G Simpson EsqUnderTreasurer

Perth W A

appE

cost

APPENDIX B

THE PUBLlO SERVICE COMMISSIONER

Overlapping and Duplication Electoral Branches

In response to your minute hereunder of the 26th June I now submit my report

1 The Chief Electoral Officer is not prepared to sign a joint report or to furnish a separate one as he states

this latter has already been done

2 The report as presented hereunder has bgen fu1ly discussed with the Chief Electoral Officer and he has

supplied any information sought In addition there has been a frank disClssion on the various phases including thecontrol of elections upon which latter subject Mr Gordon would not express an opinion

com

ance

3 Mr Duncan inhis memo of the 16th June deals with two aspects of the above

a The possibility of a Joint Roll to meet Commonwealth and State Legislative Assembly requirements beingcollected and maintained by one electoral authority

b The possibility of conducting elections by one set of officers

4 He desired at this juncture that only a be dealt with

Joint electoral rolls in respect to Commonwealth and State Assembly elections could be adopted in WesternAustralia provided the respective boundary lines of the Commonwealth Divisions and Subdivisions and the State As

sembly Districts are made reasonably coterminous

The State Assembly District boundaries can only be altered by legislationThe Commonwealth sub divisions which areanalogous to State Assembly Districts may be altend by proclamation

and consequently it is easier for the Commonwealth to bring its subdivisional boundaries into line with those of State

Assembly Districts than for the State to alter the boundaries of its Districts to make them agree with those of the Commonwealth Any agreement for joint rolls between this State and the Commonwealth would have to provide for thealteration of Commonwealth sub divisional boundaries or State District boundaries to ensure the preparation of jointrolls in an understandable condition

It should be understood that a joint roll need not be the printed roll issued for an election What is known as the

manuscript roll compiled from day to day by a Registrar is the joint roll The Hegistrar would prepare therefroma roll to be printed for use at a specific election omitting the names of any electors who were not qualified to vote at

that particular election

and

tat

havc

A Commonwealth presentB do proposedC do sub divisions

D State Legislative AssemblyE do Council

clairioinrespstaQin tlCou

5 I have had prepared by the Surveyor General maps showing the existing boundaries of

6 Extracts made from the Statllitical records of this State show that over a period of 22 years there was onlyone occasion viz September 1914 War time when the printed rollused at a Commonwealth election might have been

used with a supplement for a State Assembly election the period between the twoelections being 25 days

morStalrefe

matAIlsfor

If

uM

tbe

ov

llta

ary

1e states

I he basding tbe

ltS being

l WesternState As

elamatione of Statethe Com

de for tbellof joint

lown as thetberefromto vote at

ere was onlylt have been8

81

APPENDIX B continued

7 B rom fJOS to 1930 22 years there have been eight State and nine Commonwealth General Elections for the

L cr Houscs With the exceptionreferred to above tbe rolls for either State or Commonwealth would have had to be

reo rinted even InLd the system of joint rolls been in operation

8 As a first step to economy a review is neeessary of the expenditure in retaining dual staffs for the

continuoUS compilation of the manuscript rolls the Pro ince ancl Assembly rolls by the State and what is equiv

alent to the State Assembly roll by the Commonwealth

Tberein lies the bulk of the continual dual cost The holding of an election and the printing of the necessary

rolls is apart from the above and bears its own definite expenditure

9 The expenditure for the Commonwealth and State Electoral officers for 10 years to the 30th Jnne 1929 was

as folloWS

1920 21

21 22

22 2323 242425

25 2626 2727 2828 29

Commonwealth Salaries

Expendituref

62 53865 04067 05469 4907408676 57279 50380 54180 978

State Salaries

Expendituref

11 77012 16510 76513 48512 82213 87014 11014 02013 201

N S W not shown

With only one roll to compile as compared with twoin the majority of the States the Commonwealth expenditure

appears abnormal

10 In the year 1020 21 which was immediately prior to the auoption of joint rolls in South Australia the salaries

cost to tbat State was f4 762 The record since then is as follows

1921 2222 2323 24

24 2525 26

26 2727 2828 29

f2 92229073 1523 07645574 2293 6533 695

These are the salaries of State officials to which has to be added allowances paid to Commonwealth omcers who

compile the rolls For the States of Soutb Australia New South Wales Victoria and Tasmania these additional allow

ances aggregated n965 From Commonwealth Estimates page 89 1930 31

11 Uniformity is desirable if a reduction canbe shown not only to the State but in the total expenditure of State

and Commonwealth

12 The foregoing deals only with the Commonwealth rolls and the State Assembly rolls With reference to tbe

tate Legislative Conncil rolls the varying qualifications are set out herennder

VVESTERN Ate5TRALlA

Holls are compiled by means of claim cards the electors must

haveelther one or the other of the following qualificationsa Freeholder who has regular equitable estate in possession

of tbe clear value of f50

b Householder occupying any dwelling house of n7 clear

annual value

c Leaseholder who has a leasehold estate in possession of

the clear value of n7

d Crown Leaseholder who holds a lease or license to depas

tnre occupy cultivate or mine upon Crown lands at

an annual rental of SOlOe Hatepayer for property of an annual rateable value of

at least n7

VICTORIA

Rolls compiled from Batepayers lists See

para 15 of Mr Duncan s letteL

13 In thepreparation of our Legislative Council rolls the Asseml ly cards areutiliseil as a checking factor as every

l for enrolment for the Conncil must have a correspondinO claim for the Assembly the two sets of cards run con

Jomt y and afford an excellent check against each other giving a verification of fact as to the proper enrolment for the

ctlve rolls of each individual elector With the var ing qualifications for the Legislative Council it is ea ily under

i thithat the preparatlOll of such roll 1S of a far more difficult cbaracter than that of the Assembly and 1t 1S essent1al

C s State hat the cards from which the Assembly roll isprepared must be readily anilable for the preparation of the

ounOlI roll 1f economy in preparation is to exist

I

Il

mo li It is uggested that a joint roll for Commonwealth and Assembly be prepared by one organisation the Com

Staea tb leavll1g the S ate to prepare its own C unc l 1011 Such an arrangement would not be economical t tbe

refer e

s apart fr J11 paYll1g half the ost of prmtmg Jomt Commonwealth and Assembly rolls the cost of hlOh is

mat dto later It would have to mall1tam an electoral orgamsatlOn of 1ts own for the Coun011 rolls whlOh 1t is esti

Ass mb7 uld ot be le s than 75 o its pres nt strength This may on first sight appear high but tbe loss of the

for C clards for contmual re erencc lS a matenal factor and fallll1g unmedlate acccss thereto a cannLS of those qualified

onnei enrolment would have to he made eyery two years

32

APPENDIX Bcontinued

15 A review of tho aotivities of the Commonwealth and Stato Electoral Departments on an adult populationbasis of 238 000 is as follows

State

District RollsAssemblvCouncil 30 sents

ElectorsAssemblyCounoil

230 07673 578

Enrolments 303 654

Elections contestedCommonwealth 1929

Votes recordedState 1930

AssemblyCouncil

139 01352 051

191 064

Licensing Petitions State 21

Electors in Arcns

Petitioners

18 88210 608

29 490

Extraneous Electionsunder State Statntes

Vaca neies to be filledSalaries and Allowances including eost of obtaining

information but cxclusive of all contingenciesSee Appendices A and B

113

f3 010

CommonwealthRepresentative

and Senate

5010

5nil

215 452

215 452

108 094

108 094

11 ilnil

71iZ

nil16 20

In To obtain information for compilation of rolls the State hiLS n District ncgistrars whoso goncral duties

cmbrace this 500 police officials 21 town clerks 126 road secretaries 1 681 honorary electoral agents The State does

not pay for such services

Furthermorc the n1llnber of candidates at State Eleetions 116 in Hl30 with their Committees and organisationstcnd to supply without cost to the State first hand information

There arc 80 lll3mbers of the State Legislature many of whom supply accurate information regarding their electors

COlllmol1 cnJth Postal officers are paid for informatiou supplied The nULjority of Post Offices arc subsidiscd and

any assistance from such service has to be paid for An amount of 5671 Os 2cI or 22 of our total eost was paid to

postmen during the 12 months ended the 30th June 1930

17 Both the Commonwealth nllll State Governments are anxious to eliminate unnecessary expenditure in over

I nping activities

1n the Coml1lonw0nlth 1nd Stat0 Electoml Dc partments the following are the r0spective positions

rL Both territories r11e the same

b Tho r1llnlt popnlation is the sam3

c The qualifie 1tiols for the Commonwealth and the State j ssembly are on similar lines subject to reserva

tions as disclosed in Appendix Cd The number of electors Ol the Commonwealth and the Str1te Legislative rolls shJuld be within a few

thousand of each other

e The activities of the Stn te Electoral Office are greater than those of tbe COlllmorcwealth hy virtne of

more numerous Stateelectorates various qualifications for theLegislative Council and activities beyondtheLegisbtive elections licensing shop polls etc and maintaining registration of Postal Vote officers

This latter is considerable and does not apply to the Commonwealth

Information paid for

Commonwealth

E5 950

670

State18 The respective salary and information expenditure for twelve months ended 30th June 1930 was as follows

f

3 00040

f6 620 f3 040

From the above the obvious deduction is that two services are unnecessary One service should give all that is

required at a considerable saving to both the Commonwealth and State Governments

19 The Commonwealth is thc Premier Government but in the instance lIndeI review the State s organisation

handles greater activities at a cost of 53040 per annum compared with 56 620 by the Commonwealth which is 117

greater than that of thc State

20 On the question of costs there are foul separate proposals for consideration viz

a The amalgamation of the State Assembly and Commonwealth rolls

b The retention by the Statc of its rcmaining functions including the Council rolls

c The transfer to the Commonwealth of all rolls State Assembly and Council now preparecl by the State

and the performance of all other State duties exclusive of elections

d The transfer to the State of the Commonwealth rollbut not incl1 ding the conduct of elections

oS

BS

l18

rs

adto

er

va

ew

ofmders

at is

tion17

tate

33

APPENDIX B continued

21 For an additional amount of C500 per annum the State Electoral Oftice should etrectua lh andl the cxisting

requireroentsof both Gov f JnD1enls in thp proper preparation of the respective rnlls which lIetween ekninns i the main

1I0rk of the fXlstmg staL s

In the ahoye figTrc of fWO the ontrol of Commonwealth dections has heen Cxclllded

If the State ahsorhec1 thC CommonwCaltb electoral officC the retention b the IMtCl Goycrlllneni of tlwil Electoral

officer for the control of Commonwealth election willhan to 1 providNI nLling jOth une Hlll L lII U 4G

OnthpnthPI hawiftlw Commonwealth absorlJc the Stak Elpctoral Oft ce the retention bv 1 h 1nt of their Chief

Eleetoral Om 10 thc ondl1t of electiom has hpcn pro ided ntting Wth 1II10 H31 I 7il

Pr the al 0Y flpn of ClOO th follo dnf vo11d be the financial positions for t1w rn0paratiull of the Conlnlon

wealth roll p 1icl the F i tin activit ip or the StatE Electoral Otlice

The ffn vjn p c1YJsal n tC111 plate the f o1l1plptp elimination of either twState or Conllnonwealth Electoral De

partments nd the eontl il11tiol o as a l asi of l lualgamation are l OH pe1 allllunl l y th r d 111 OlnmOl1

wealth OU i Ti tbe Conlnlollwcalth to the tate These 11111mll1ts ar0 appro vjn1ftel propolt ionat1c

to the e istj lf 01 t lk I pc tivf epartments

j

fnte u J8J l ing COrInwnwea1th EZetfoj ftl Ottfr e

PTt HCil nSD tD St te

Arid vl l1tiomcl Cst to 8t ate in absorbing Commonwealth clectoral roll

i1040

510

Less proposecontribution by Commonwealth

n 1 40JOO

Cost to State 040

Present cost to Commonwealth 6J

Under the propOSed arrangements the cost to the CODlmonwealtb oul l be

Commonwcalth EJectoral Officer

Payment to V A

a 5J2 500

i3020

On tbeabove Jigurb tho cost to the taCpa yer ould be f4 060 a as against the present CORt of f I GOO a reduction

f f5 540 or 57 per cent per annum

The cost to the State 01 040 as against f3 040 a reduction of 02 000 or 65 per cent per ammm

The cost to the Commonwealth i3020 as against 06 620 a reduction of 03 600 or 4 per cent per annum

23 Cormnomcealth ab801 bing State Electoral Officef

j tiO500Prescnt cost to Commonwealth

Allow 1500 additional cost

Lss proposed contribution by State

Estimated cost to Commonwealth

L 7 120000

u120

lresent cost to StateJ140

Under this arrangement the cost to thc State would then be

Chief Electoral OfficerContribution to Commonwealth

b 5 b1 000

0576

ofl1On the above figures the cost to the taxpayer would be07 696 b as against thepresent cost of 19 660 a reduction

940 or 19 per cent per annum

The cost to tbe State would be 0576 as against 03 040 a reduction of 0 464 or 47 per cent per annum

The cost to the Commonwcalth would be 06 120 a reduction of f500 or 8 per cent

th24 The combined services can be obtained at a cost to the taxpayer under State control for04060 per annum

ec

en why should he pay more and on this basis both the Commonwealtb and State Governments obtain the greatest

Ponomy then why should they pay more Gnder the Commonwealth eontml the cost to the taxpayer would be f7 69er annum

23 Reduce without th6 necessity for ny iegishtion tllcombiner expenditure to f4 060 per annum

qUalific tIhis is attaine rurther ecoomies by legislatiun could be considered embracing evie of electoral bouIda ies

have bons etc makmg a omt prmted roll an economlC proposItIOn for hoth Governments hen both these objectIves

een reached then and then only will the proper economic position be established

monwe thIn the cvcnt of the Commonwealth Government not agreeing to State Electoral Office handling the Com

the mai telectoral requirements thcn the proposal of the Commonwealth Government to provide the necessary stafj for

n enance of the tate Assembly roll must be considered

littleB pointed out this oulclleave the Council rolls and other State eleetoral activities on the State s hands withany decrease in the expenditure or either Commonwealth or State

34

APPENDIX B continued

27 In Mr Duncan s proposal it is suggested tbat tbe State should pay half the cost of printingCommonwealth

rolls the Commonwealth accepting the responsibility for the State Assembly roll I fail to see bow any saving to the

State oan be the outcome of tbe proposal Atthe present time Commonwealth rollsin A are printed in divisions and

each division contains several State Assembly districts The cost in any bye election for the use of joint printed rolls

for which it is suggested we should pay half would be largely inexcess of State s requirements

It cost the Government Printer of W A 574 lOs Od to print the Commonwealth rolls for 1930 This cost

representspaper and actual wages paid The charge to the Commonwealth was fl 140 disclosing a surplus overthe above

cOBts of E574 10s Od

Icannot see how any true economy canbe brought about by Mr Duncan s proposal To leave the Council rolls

etc on our hands would cost us almost as much as OUT present organisation If we agree to half tbe cost of joint rolls

then we are entirely in the bands of the Commonwealth Government to say when such rolls shall be printed and we

bave to meet half the cost whether we require such rolls or not

28 The more you examine the dual electoral activities as they exist tl day the more pronounced becomes the

necessity for an immediate change on tbe following lines

a One organisation for the maintenance of Commonwealth and State rollsand other electoral acti ities exceRt

electionsb Each Government to have its own Electoral Officer

c Each Government to undertake its own elections

d Eacb Government to bear the cost of printing its own rolls

29 From the point of economy it is evident that unless the Commonwealth Government can bring their costs

down to that of the State then any amalgamation should be by the State

30 Ifan absorption by the State of the Commonwealth electoral activities cannot uc arranged then the next best

course is for the Commonwealth to absorb the whole of the State s electoral activities except the conduct of elections

For the moment the conduct of elections is not material to constant annual expenditure as elections bear their own

definite cost and apart from this the respective Governments might prefer to conduct these themselves

010

31 Mr Duncan might thenbe advised that his proposal a would not relieve the State of any expenditure owing

to the Council rolls and other activities still having to be maintained by us In his proposals he aims to reduce his

costs by the State paying half the cost of printing the joint rolls If he is prepared to consider the Commonwealth

Electoral Office taking over the whole of the activities of the State Electoral Office with the exception of the conduct of

elections then it might be proposed that we would print Commonwealth rolls free up to n000 per annum This would

form a basis for an amalgamation

ELECTORAL BRANCH VESTERN AUSTRALIA

PERMANENT ESTABLISHl1El TS AT 16TH FEBRuARY 1931

Location DesignationClassification Scale ht

July 1926 subject to

provisions of Regulation106A

510 546420492

330402252 306

96 306252 2848424484226

420492222 306

420492252 306

420492222 306

420492222 306

5998

PerthDoDo

DoDoDoDo

DoBunbury

DoFremantle

DoKalgoorlie

DoMidland Junction

Do

Commonwealth Electoral OfficerDivisional Returning OfficerClerk

dodo

Senior IndexerIndexerTypist Grade 1

Divisional Returning OfficerClerkDivisional Returning OfficerClerkDivisional Returning OfficerClerkDivisional Returning OfficerClerk

Salary payments 1929 30

Temporary assistance

f

593020

Payments to Postmen

5 950

670

6620

thheudlis

stve

lisUSwe

the

ept

oats

bestons

own

winghis

ealthct ofvould

35

STATE ELECTORAL OFFICE VESTERN AUSTRALIA

PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENTS

LOfation Designation

PerthDoDoDoDo

North n

PerthDo

Chief Electoral OfficerOlerk in ChargeClerk and Electoral Registrar

do do dodo do do

ClerkTypisteJunior

ClassifioationRalaris

r

1st Tuly 19aL 16th February1931

j520 57fl

a6ii 408280 312270 300270 288260 288

95 108110 120

430 20300 365250 280215 270

21fi270185 260

55 1aO5 150

2 170 2400

Location Designation

TEMPORARY OFFICERS PERFORMING PERMANENT DUTIES

Salary at 16th Febrilary 1931

300

Do

Electoral Registrar Fremantle and all rolls outside

Metropolitan AreaIndexer 300

Perth

600

COMMONWEALTH

COMPARISON OF QUALIFICATIONS TO BE ENROLLED

STATE ASSEMBLY

a 21 years of age

b 6 months residence inAustralia and one month in theDistrict

c Natural born or naturalised subject of the Kingd Continuation of qualification to vote during a period of

3 months after removal from aDistricte Compulsory enrolmentf Elector allowed 21 days in which to give notice of

change of address

g Native of British India

h Halfblood aboriginal natives of Australia Asia Africaor the Islands of the Pacific

i A person having a right of State enrolment shall not

while the right continues be prevented from votingat Commonwealth elections

i Immediate enrolment on lodging claimk Objection to claims by Registrar or other person

Elector given one month in which to appeal

1 Claims received after 6 pm on the day of the issue ofa writ shall not be registered

m Disqualified if1 Is of unsound mind2 Is attainted of treason3 Convicted and sentenced fora term of imprison

ment of one year or longer4 0 such provision in Commonwealth Act

n I tmpoSl IOn of penalties delegated to officials0 Printing of Bols When Minister directs

81tpplements Immediately prior to an election

30th July 1931

The same

6 months residence in Western Australia and one

month in the District forwhich claim is lodgedThe same

The same

The same

The same

Not qualified see State Constitution Act

Not qualified for State

No equivalent provisions in State Acts An electotfor the Commonwealth has not by irtue of that

qualification only a right to be enrolled on a Stateroll

Enrolment at the expiration of 14 daysThe same excepting that the time in which to lodge

appeal at discretion of State Registrar with a

minimum of 7 daysClaims received within the period of14 days prior to the

issue of a writ shall not be enrolled but deletionsmay be made where an elector s name appears on

more than one rolL

Disqualified if1 The same

2 The same

3 The same with the addition of subject to besentenced

4 Is wholly dependent on relief from the State or

from any charitable institution subsidised

by the State except as a patient inhospitalPenalties can only be imposed by a legal tribunal

When Chief Electoral Officer thinks fit

Half yearlyAmalgamated RolI When Minister directs and afte

issue of writ for a general election

Sgd H H BRODRIBBTreesury Inspl1Ctor

36

APPENDIX C

Extract from COl mlwealth of All tm7ia nw ette o D hted I Hh February 1030

TATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES

IT is hereby notified for public infornmtiull that the lbjolnec1 rlang ment betIO ll the o lI1or l1lml of the Com

monwealth of Allstralia and tllGovernor of the State of Xew SOlltb Va e mak n provision for Ioi1l1 lectomI l olls

in the Sta te of e i BOllth Vak shan cOll1E into force on antl froJl 11H Jll1el t udl cla of F 1Il21TY l l iO

lltTUl BL fELI Y lin tlOr for Home ffairs

J OINT ELECTOH AL gOLLS

STATE OF NEW SUITH VALES

Arrangement between the Gorernoelleral and the Gocernoof el outi Wales uwl iilU JiOri8ion forJoint Electoral Rulls

1n ell 0Ifill 1F j LecL

PURSUANT to the Common wealth Electowl Jet Hllg HJ S and the Elf tom e ald Election8cict IllZ ID28

of the State of New So th Vales and all other enabling powers it i hene Mranged wtWIWll His K cclloncy

the Governor Genen1 in and over the Commonwer lth of Australia acting with of the Fo lcral E cclltivc Coun

cil and His E cdbnethe Governor in and overthe State of New bontll Yalc lLctinwith the advice of the Executive

Council of the StaLe for the preparation alteration and reyision of the EketoralRolls joinl hy the Commonwutlth and

the State to theintent that the Rolls mav be used for Commonwealth elcct iunand iso II StlLte elcetimH for 101 Lsis

lative Assembly of the said State

l That the same persons shall be appoint0d Electoral Registmrs mdcr the la of the Comn omHulth and those

of the State and that to thefullest ectent practicable the Commonwcalth Divi ional itdnrning On c e s ali appointed

to be Electoral Registntrs

2 That the Electoral Registrars shall subject to the provisions of the olbW I ccidth JiJiedom7 1 I 11S 1 8

and of the Padio mentaElectoraies and Elections Act J912 1 28 of thc SL8k of N w S01ltll nct the J lint

instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer for the C ClHll 01lV Cnlth and the Ek cto al C0nnnj ionr d taJ

3 rrhat as soon as pl wticable after the CO illing in o iOlce of thifalrfingen1cnt stcp shall he taken 011 tlw pa rt of

the Commonwealth to alter the boundaries of Commonwefdth snbdivisions inGbe Stat sO that adl s h clivijonshall

be as far as practieable inone electoral district only and on the part of the State to divide electoral rli Lriets into b

divisions as far as practicable co terminous with the Commonwealth stibdjvisions

4 That as soon a Cj practicable after the coming into force of this p rrrm2ementsteps sluLll be taken for the prepara

tion of new Electoral Rolls underthe laws of theCommonwealth and those ofthe StaGe for each Commonwealth electoral

division and snbdivision inthe State and for each electoral district and subdivision to the intent that ach Roll so pre

pared shall be a oint Roll in all cases

5 That each Joint Roll so prepared shaH contain all matters rN llired by thecledoralla s of the Commonwealth

to be contained inRolls and all matters required by the electoral laws of the State to be eontnined il1 Rolls and may

contain any matters authorized by those laws to be contained therein inclnding footnotes referenceB or distingnishing

marks necessary or convonient to indicate that any person whose name appear thereon is not eligible to vote at any

Commonwealth or State electionor to indicate any other matter necessary or convenient to be indicated thereon for any

purpose in connection with the Joint Rolls

G That so far a2 practicable joint forms shall be prepared complying with tbe requisites of the electoral laws

of the Commonwealth and those of the State for the purposes of additions to rolls transfers and alterations of rolls and

of the removal of names from rolls and for other purposes incidental to those purposes

7 That the EJeetoral Commissioner forthe State shall have therigbt at all reasonahle times to inspect elaims in

respect of existing enrolments rcceived from electors and preserved in the Commonwcalth Electoral Ofiicc at Syctney for

the purpose of carryingout any duty imposed upon theElectoral COlnmissioner fortheStateunder any law of the Statc

8 I That the Commonwealth shall meet the cost of maintaining the Central Comll1om ealth Ekctol Otnce

and the omces of the Di isional Rcturning OmeelS in New South Vales and all other cxpenses in eonneetiowith the

Joint P ol1s except in rehtion to expenditure under the following heads which hall he hared equally hy the mmon

wealth and the State lmme v

a The printing and binding of Joint Electoral Rolls and thc material therdor

b The printingof books forms and other printed matter used for joint electoral purposes and thc material

thereforc Speoi allo ances if any to individual police omcers in the form of extra remUneJfltioll as may be

jointly agreed upon

2 That the Shlte shall mal e available the seITic es of the police in thc joint intercst for the purpm es of elcetoral

inquiries and canvns es subject only to the special a1 owancps if any set out in paragraph 8 I c

l That this armngement shall come into foree on a date to be fixed by the respective Governments of thc COlli

monwealth and of tbe Stclte of New South Vales and a notification of this arrangcmpnt and of the elatc when it is to

lome into force shaH be published in the GOImnon wcl1th I C te and in the Ooonl J pnt iacette of the said Strrte

10 That this ar1fwgement ma he tcrminakcl by not less than twelve months notice in writing given by the

Governor of the State to the Governor General of the COlllmoml ealth or by thc Governor General of the Commonwcalth

to the GoyernoI of the ilte on behalf of the State and theCOlllmonwealt h l spedi ely or may bc terminated at allY time

by mutual arrangemen

JOINT ELECTORAL HULLS

Dated the seventh day of Junc One thou8and nine hundrcu and t enty nineSTONEHAVEN

Governor Gencral

By Commaud of His xc eUcney tbe Governor General C L A ABBOTTinister of State for Home Affairs

D R S DE CHAIRGOHlTJOr of the State of New South Yales

By Command of lIis Excellency the Governor of New South WalesFHANK A CHAFFEY

Chief Pec etary

By Authority FRED V1 SIl IPSOJ Government Printer Pertb

I Vor

0

7

WESTERN AUSTRALIAI

MINUTESA D

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGSOF THE

PARLIAMENT J U l j C J

DFHING THE

FOURTH SESSION OF THE FIFTEENTH PARLIAMENT1st AUGUST to 17th DECEMBER 1935

WITH PAPERS PRESENTED TO BOTH HOU ES BY CO IlY1AND OF

HIS EXCELLENCY THE LIEUT NANT GOVERNORAND

COPIES OF THE VARIOUS DOCUMENTS ORDERED TO BE PRINTED

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOLUME II

BY AUTHOJITY

FRED WllL SIJIIPSON GOVbfXllrENT PfIKTEI PERTH

19 36l8575 36