A bit of a shambles?

During the recent federal election campaign, I often received responses of total disbelief from electors - some could simply not believe that someone was running on a platform focused upon calling out clearly identified abuse and neglect in the South Australian community. During the last decade, I've had my own moments of disbelief in response to the antics of successive federal governments, the harrowing accounts of many survivors in numerous Royal Commissions and somewhat less publicly, repeated examples of harmful systemic behaviour in my former workplace. It’s been challenging to have witnessed more irregular conduct and experienced more disbelief in recent months.

I did anticipate encountering political gamesmanship during the campaign and whilst I encountered a few incidents involving various political parties, I am more concerned by the  significant number of incidents involving Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) staff. It began with my initial contacts with the AEC during the nomination process where I witnessed odd behaviour most commonly seen at a rowdy night out at the pub, specifically comments of questionable taste and a variation of the abrasive and dismissive conduct of a bouncer who will not provide explanations for their behaviour. In the weeks that followed, the AEC proceeded to rack up a sizeable list of incidents including multiple breaches of privacy, unnecessary and vexatious email interactions and on a regular basis during pre-polling, repeated ill-informed challenges questioning the legitimacy of my campaign.

At this point in time, my impression is that the unnecessary challenges to my campaign were not so much the fault of any of the individual AEC staff members involved but more a consequence of the AEC's decision to misrepresent the process of casting a vote on the Senate ballot in their advertising blitz during the election. The AEC simply ignored the vote saving provisions in the Electoral Act and in the main emphasised that voters must number boxes one to six above the line or one to twelve below the line at a minimum on the Senate ballot. In contrast, my how to vote material and election signs correctly informed voters that they must number a minimum of boxes one through to six below the line (as clearly detailed on page 41 of the AEC’s Scrutineer’s Handbook).  As a consequence, not only AEC staff but some voters and party volunteers also questioned if my campaign was lawful and some expressed sentiments that they did not vote for me as a consequence of ‘my mistake’.

Whilst most Australians consider deceptive and misleading conduct in modern politics as unsurprising; this view, informed by the conduct of politicians, now appears to also apply to the independent organisation that manages our democratic processes. The AEC's muted response to complaints regarding the Liberal Party's election signs which recently targeted the Australian-Chinese community builds on such concerns. Whilst the perception of political bias within various government departments is worrying; in my circumstances, I am more inclined to suspect that it's a case of repeatedly shambolic behaviour. As these matters are largely of no concern to the AEC, I feel obliged to provide this information for the Australian community and intend to provide more specific details in the future. It may have seemed very quiet here following the federal election but only recently have I felt that I could speak freely about these experiences. The AEC took a long time to respond to my concerns raised in late May, and their response was quite light on detail.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank almost everyone I met during the campaign and particularly those who shared their personal stories and experience of abuse and neglect with me. Many of these stories have both strengthened my resolve, and my sense of disbelief regarding the extent which our lawmakers prioritise the reputations of the powerful over the wellbeing of everyday Australians. I’d also like to thank the many AEC staff members who treated me with common decency. Whilst the behaviour of some AEC staff members has been a distraction, the greater goal remains supporting individuals and medical practitioners in stopping repeated incidents of clearly identified serious injury and harm.

Far from repealing Medevac, we should be providing medically supported interventions and protection to everyone in our community.