‘Let us sit’: MPs protest amid election chaos warning
Chaos in state parliament is set to be replicated at the polling booth, with a warning South Australia risks election results in several seats being sent to the court of disputed returns if the Government can’t prevent the potential disenfranchisement of thousands of voters next month.
It comes as a majority of state MPs today converged on the House of Assembly for a historic protest – branded a “stunt” by the Marshall Government – with Labor and crossbench members taking their seats for a parliamentary session that never came.
All six of the state’s crossbenchers – including Speaker Dan Cregan and three other former Liberals – joined Labor MPs to form an outright majority – 24 MPs were in attendance, with Labor’s MP for Giles Eddie Hughes currently in isolation as a close COVID contact.
However, the Government declined the call for parliament to resume, with Premier Steven Marshall understood not to be making any media appearances today.
Cregan told those gathered: “Parliament has not been recalled.”
It followed yesterday’s passage through the Upper House, which is sitting this week, of a discrete Bill to facilitate phone voting at next month’s state poll, which would allow people isolating under emergency declarations to cast their ballots remotely.
You might like
However, Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry has already told the Government that he would be unable to implement such a measure at this late stage in any case.
Both sides are blaming each other after passage of a broader Bill that would have facilitated the changes earlier languished late last year and was not brought on for a vote before the Government dissolved parliament ahead of the election.
“Unless this issue is resolved, we face the risk that the result in close seats will be disputed in the court of disputed returns,” Cregan told those gathered.
“This issue should have been resolved by consensus – if the government does not wish to extend telephone voting, then extend postal voting…
“Action is required and is required now.”
Stay informed, daily
Cregan insisted “there are many steps we can take in this chamber if it was properly constituted”, rejecting the Government’s assertion that it is working through administrative solutions to be declared by the state’s emergency coordinator Grant Stevens.
“In my view this is a matter requiring parliament’s urgent attention – it’s not a matter the executive should attempt to resolve using executive powers,” Cregan said.
Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas told the half-empty House: “If any South Australian wants evidence of a Premier politicising the pandemic, here it is.”
“We’re ready to do our job – why doesn’t the Marshall Liberal Government do theirs?” he said.
“When Steven Marshall opened up the borders, we knew that the preparatory work needed to be done, including for this election… preparatory work they did not do.”
But Treasurer Rob Lucas derided the gathering as a “massive political stunt”, calling it “Pete’s pantomime with his puppets behind him”.
“Even if the Bill was to be passed this week they couldn’t implement telephone voting before the election,” he said.
“Today’s exercise – whatever it was – was just a waste of money, waste of time and frankly a waste of attention.”
Former Liberal turned crossbencher Sam Duluk left the chamber as Malinauskas began to speak, telling InDaily the timing was “mere coincidence”.
“I came to parliament this morning to represent my electorate; unfortunately, parliament won’t be recalled to debate election voting reforms and as such I have important community work to return to,” he said.
