Senator Nick Xenophon wants to introduce a Private Senator’s Bill that will ultimately remove the rights political parties have to the general public.
The bill – which he will present to parliament in August – already has the support of the Greens and Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie. “If the Government and political parties are genuinely worried about a right to privacy, maybe they should stop using sophisticated voter tracking software to keep tabs on their constituents without their consent,” Senator Xenophon said.
As it stands, political parties are exempt from certain areas of the Privacy Act and can access information about voters without their consent. The public themselves has no access to this information and no idea of what it is or how accurate it is. Both major parties operate voter-tracking software programs that compile significant amounts of personal information.
“The current rules are stacked in favour of political parties and politicians,” Xenophon told AAP.
“It’s an incredible double standard and an act of breathtaking hypocrisy for the major parties not to support this.”
Senator Xenophon will also seek to amend the Electoral Act to include a ‘do not contact’ register for politicians and political parties which will act like the ‘do not call’ register for telemarketers. Voters will be able to have their details removed from the rolls provided to politicians and political parties.
“People should have the right to stop politicians and political parties from using the information contained on the electoral role to target them with tax-payer funded political advertising,” Xenophon said. “This information can include a person’s name, date of birth, address and occupation.”