Kate Chaney has moved in Parliament to bring an end to a scheme where political parties use "dodgy" tactics to collect the private information of voters. The Curtin MP has introduced a private member's bill to stop the practice. Ms Chaney complained about the scheme when it was used against her before this year's Federal election.
On March 26, the MP urged those making postal votes to "go straight to the AEC, and don't be tricked into sending your personal data to political parties". "Neither major party wants to stop harvesting your data," she said. Ms Chaney told ABC radio that the Australian Electoral Commission "hates" the practice, which topped its list of complaints.
"The major parties use a loophole to mail out postal vote ballot papers to electors and forms requesting personal information, with a reply-paid envelope to post them back," she said. But in the seat of Curtin, the address on the envelope was a box number controlled by the Liberal Party, which recorded the voter's personal information then forwarded the completed ballot papers to the AEC, she said. The information was used to build mailing lists and collect personal information about people, she said.
Ms Chaney said her private member's bill would cut out these middlemen, requiring electors to send their votes direct to the AEC. "At State and Federal election time you get a letter from your local MP with official postal vote forms inside so you can avoid the election day queues, so you fill out the form to vote in advance," she told ABC radio. "When you put your ballot in the reply paid envelope, it actually goes back to your MP first. They take all of your data, all your information, and then they send it on to the Electoral Commission."
Ms Chaney said the political parties recorded a voter's name, address, birth date, email and phone number and their secret question and answer. "Most voters don't even know that they're sending their form to a political party who can then use your data because they're not covered by the Privacy Act, so they can do whatever they like with that data," she said.
A previous committee had recommended that the practice be stopped but the government didn't include it in its electoral reform package, Ms Chaney told ABC radio.