Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
2002-2003-2004
THE PARLIAMENT OF
THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL
AMENDMENT (REPRESENTATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES) BILL
2004
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of the Special Minister of State,
Senator the Hon Eric
Abetz)
GENERAL OUTLINE
The Bill gives effect to the
Government’s response to the recommendations of the Joint Standing
Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) in its report entitled: Territory
Representation: Report of the Inquiry into increasing the minimum
representation of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory in
the House of Representatives. The Government supports the Committee’s
findings which are implemented in this Bill by amendments to the Commonwealth
Electoral Act 1918 (the Electoral Act).
The legislation will achieve
the intent of the JSCEM’s recommendations to ensure the transparency and
certainty of the process used for the making of the determinations for
representation of the Territories in the House of Representatives.
The
legislation specifies that the statistics to be provided by the Australian
Statistician for the purpose of making a determination are to be the most recent
set of statistics in a regular series, compiled and published by the Australian
Statistician under the Census and Statistics Act 1905. This removes any
ambiguity about which is the latest set of statistics to be used. The format in
which they are published may also include statistics in electronic
format.
In addition to the estimated populations of the States, the
Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, the statistics will
include the population figures for the Territories of Jervis Bay, Cocos
(Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island and each of the other Territories. There
is also a requirement that the Electoral Commissioner make to the population
statistics whatever adjustments are required by other sections of the Electoral
Act for the purposes of making the determination.
The Electoral
Commissioner will also be required to ascertain the relevant populations of the
States and Territories on the first day after 12 months of the first sitting of
the House of Representatives of the new Parliament and make the determination
within one month after the 12 month period. If this day falls on a weekend
or public holiday then it will be made on the next working day. Details of the
calculations used to determine the number of seats to be chosen and any
adjustments to the statistics required under the Electoral Act will be published
in the Gazette within that month.
The legislation also provides
that when the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory falls short
of a quota for an additional seat, and that shortfall is within an error margin,
the Electoral Commissioner is to re-calculate the entitlement. The error margin
is represented by two standard errors of the measure of the net undercount from
the previous Census as advised by the Australian Statistician. Two standard
errors represent the 95% confidence interval of the sampling error associated
with the measure of the net undercount. The net undercount refers to the
difference between the gross undercount (the number of people who should have
been counted in the Census but were not) and the gross overcount (the number of
people who should not have been counted, either because they were counted more
than once or were overseas or should not have been counted at all). The upper
limit of that confidence level, that is, two standard errors, is to be added to
the Territory’s population and the entitlement re-calculated.
Finally, the Bill also sets aside the determination made by the
Electoral Commissioner on 19 February 2003 as it relates to the Northern
Territory. The determination made prior to the February 2003
determination on 9 December 1999 is to apply for the Northern Territory at the
next election. This will ensure that the Northern Territory has two seats.
Determination of the number of members to be returned after the next election
will be subject to the procedures outlined in the Electoral Act and as amended
in this Bill.
Financial impact statement
The financial
impact of the Bill is not significant. The cost of an additional member of the
House of Representatives to represent the Northern Territory is estimated at
approximately $0.8 million per annum over the next four years. This amount
includes salary, entitlements, staff and associated costs.
The Australian
Electoral Commission will be required to maintain an office for the new Division
in the Northern Territory, at an estimated cost of $0.2 million per annum,
including three staff and administrative costs.
COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL
AMENDMENT (REPRESENTATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES) BILL
2004
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 – Short
Title
1. Clause 1 is a formal provision specifying the short title of
the Bill.
Clause 2 – Commencement
2. This clause sets
out the commencement provisions for the Bill. Sections 1 to 3 will commence on
the day the Bill receives Royal Assent. Schedule 1 will commence seven days
after the Bill receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3 –
Schedule(s)
3. Clause 3 specifies that the Act referred to in the
Schedule is amended by the amendments set out in the
Schedule.
Schedule 1 – Amendments
4. Schedule 1
amends the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Electoral
Act).
Item 1 – Subsection 4(1)
5. This item inserts a
definition of ‘Census’ into the Electoral Act.
Item 2
– Subsection 46(1)
6. Subsection 46 provides for the Electoral
Commissioner to ascertain the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, States
and Territories within one month after the first 12 months of the sitting of the
House of Representatives in a new Parliament. The population numbers are
ascertained in accordance with the latest statistics of the
Commonwealth.
7. This item will repeal and replace subsection 46(1) to
specify the population figures which are to be ascertained, the statistics to be
used for that purpose and to revise the timeframe within which the population
figures are to be ascertained. The amendments will introduce certainty about
which population figures are to be used by the Electoral Commissioner when
determining the number of members of the House of Representatives to be chosen
at a general election.
8. In addition to the populations of the
Commonwealth and the States, amended subsection 46(1) specifies the Territories
for which the population numbers are to be ascertained. The ‘other
Territories’ referred to in paragraph 46(1)(g) include the Australian
Antarctic Territory, the Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands, the Coral Sea
Islands Territory and the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands. For the
purposes of the Electoral Act, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) includes
the Territory of Jervis Bay in the definition of the ACT contained in
subsection 4(1) of the Electoral Act. The Electoral Commissioner will be
required to ascertain the relevant populations on the first day after the House
of Representatives has sat for a period of 12 months in a new Parliament, rather
than within the month after that 12 month period. Where that date falls on
a weekend or public holiday the ascertainment is to be made the next working
day.
9. New subsection 46(1B) requires the Electoral Commissioner to use
the most recent population statistics for each of the States and Territories,
compiled and published in a regular series, by the Australian Statistician under
the Census and Statistics Act 1905, to ascertain the
population numbers. The subsection also specifies those Territories for which
the population statistics are to be used. In order to take account of future
publication methods, the item provides for these statistics to be published
electronically or in an electronic format.
Item 3 – Section
47
10. Section 47 requires the Australian Statistician to supply the
Electoral Commissioner with all statistical information, requested by the
Electoral Commissioner, that is required under sections 45 to 54 (Division 3) of
the Electoral Act for the making of a determination of the number of members to
be chosen for the States and Territories at a general election.
11. This
item repeals section 47 and substitutes new provisions that specify the
statistical information that the Australian Statistician must provide to the
Electoral Commissioner, on request. This includes the population statistics
under section 46, additional statistical information relating to the ACT and
Northern Territory populations, and any other information required by the
Electoral Commissioner under Division 3. The additional information for the ACT
and the Northern Territory may be used for the calculation of those
Territories’ representation in the House of Representatives under amended
section 48.
12. In relation to the ACT and the Northern Territory, the
Australian Statistician is to provide the following information as population
numbers, rather than percentages or factors:
• the estimate of the net undercount for each of
these Territories at the last Census;
• the
standard error of the measure of that estimate of the net undercount; and
• the upper and lower limits of the 95%
confidence interval for the measure of that estimate of the net undercount.
13. In the conduct of the 5-yearly Census of Population and Housing, a
small proportion of the population is missed (undercount) and an even smaller
proportion of the population is counted more than once (overcount). To measure
the size of this undercount and overcount, the Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS) conducts a household survey (known as the Population Census Post
Enumeration Survey) about three weeks after Census night. The ABS then
estimates the net undercount of the population. The net undercount is the
difference between the gross undercount and the gross overcount. The ABS adds
the net undercount of each State and Territory to the Census usual resident
count in compiling official estimates of the resident population.
14. As the measures of net undercount are derived from a sample survey,
they are subject to sampling error which is reported as the standard error of
the net undercount estimates. It is a standard statistical convention to
describe that there are 19 chances in 20 (that is 95% confidence)
that the true estimate of the level of the undercount (that which may be
obtained if the survey was conducted for the whole population) is within the
range of plus or minus two standard errors of the estimate of the undercount.
Therefore, the ABS is 95% confident that the net undercount is between the lower
(minus two standard errors) and upper limits (plus two standard
errors).
15. New subsection 47(2) defines the meaning of the standard
error and confidence intervals for the purposes of the section. The provision
specifies that the Australian Statistician is to determine the estimates of the
net undercount and the standard error. The upper and lower limits of the 95%
confidence interval level of the net undercount are calculations derived from
these estimates in line with the calculations specified in paragraphs 47(2)(b)
and (c). As the net undercount of the Census is routinely determined by the
Statistician after each Census, it has not been defined. While there can be
different standard errors for different measures of sampling errors, standard
error has been defined for the purpose of the section.
Item 4 –
Subsection 48(1)
16. Item 4 makes a consequential amendment to
subsection 48(1) to provide for the Electoral Commissioner to make the
determinations for the States’ and Territories’ representation as
soon as possible after ascertaining the relevant populations and within the
timeframe set out in new subsection 48(2G).
Item 5 – Paragraph
48(1)(b)
17. Item 5 makes a consequential amendment to paragraph
48(1)(b) to provide for a Territory’s determination of representation to
be made in accordance with existing subsection 48(2B) (minimum representation
for the ACT and the Northern Territory), amended subsection 48(2C)
(determinations for the Territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas
Island and the Northern Territory) and new subsection 48(2F) (determinations for
the ACT and the Northern Territory).
Item 6 – Subsection
48(2A)
18. Item 6 amends subsection 48(2A) to provide that the
determinations made by the Electoral Commissioner when dividing the population
numbers by the quota are subject to existing subsection 48(2B), amended
subsection 48(2C) and new subsection 48(2F). These subsections are
mentioned at item 5 above.
Item 7 – Subsection
48(2C)
19. This item provides for subsection 48(2C) to be subject to
new subsection 48(2F) which relates to the determination of seats for the ACT
and the Northern Territory when either of those Territories falls short of a
quota for an additional seat. Subsection 48(2C) relates to the determination of
members to be chosen for the Territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and
Christmas Island and subsequent treatment where the Electoral Commissioner
determines that no member shall be chosen for either, or both, of these
Territories. When this occurs, these Territories are taken to be part of the
Northern Territory and their populations are included in the Northern
Territory’s population. The initial ascertainment of the Northern
Territory’s population under subsection 46(1) is deemed not to have been
made. The Electoral Commissioner is required to re-ascertain the Northern
Territory’s population, including either, or both, of the populations for
the Territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island, and determine
the Northern Territory’s representation under subparagraph 48(2C)(e)(ii).
20. New subsection 48(2F) provides that a determination made under
subparagraph 48(2C)(e)(ii) is taken never to have been made when the
provisions of new subsection 48(2E) apply to the Northern Territory.
Item 8 – Paragraph 48(2C)(e)
21. This item makes a
consequential amendment to paragraph 48(2C)(e) to refer to the time period set
out at new subsection 48(2G) within which the Electoral Commissioner must make a
determination.
Item 9 – After subsection
48(2C)
22. Item 9 inserts four new subsections in section 48.
23. The Constitution provides the formula to be used for the
determination of members of the House of Representatives (section 24). Section
48 of the Electoral Act sets out the process by which the Electoral Commissioner
is to determine the number of members of the House of Representatives that are
to be chosen in the States and Territories at a general election. The
determination is based on a formula using a quota and the population statistics
detailed at subsection 48(2). The quota is determined by dividing the number of
the people of the Commonwealth (that is the six States), as ascertained by the
Electoral Commissioner in accordance with section 46, by twice the number
of Senators for the States. The number of seats is then determined by dividing
the population of each of the States and Territories by the quota. When the
result is greater than one half of the quota, a State or Territory is entitled
to an additional seat.
24. The new subsections relate to the
determination of seats for the ACT and the Northern Territory and the time
period within which the Electoral Commissioner must make the determinations for
all States and Territories.
25. New subsection 48(2D) has the effect of
not requiring the Electoral Commissioner to ascertain the population of the
Northern Territory under subparagraph 48(2C)(e)(i) incorporating the
populations of the Territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island
on the same day as the initial ascertainment of populations under new subsection
46(1A). The provision includes an explanatory note. The purpose of subsection
48(2C) is discussed at item 7.
26. The Electoral Commissioner must first
determine the entitlements of the Territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and
Christmas Island in order to know whether the population figure for the Northern
Territory needs to be re-ascertained under subparagraph 48(2C)(e)(i) to include
either of these Territories. While the populations must be ascertained on a
particular day (new subsection 46(1A)), the Electoral Commissioner’s
determination under section 48 must be made within one month after the
first 12 months of the first sitting of the House of Representatives in a new
Parliament (new subsection 48(2G)). It would therefore be inconsistent for the
Electoral Commissioner to be required to determine the entitlements for Cocos
(Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island at a different time to that required for
making the determinations for the States and other Territories.
27. New
subsection 48(2E) specifies the circumstances under which arrangements are to
apply when either the ACT or the Northern Territory falls short of a quota for
an additional seat. New calculations will be required when the shortfall is
within a defined ‘margin of error’. The ‘margin of
error’ is represented by two standard errors of the sampling error of the
estimate of the net undercount of the previous Census count of the population of
the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory. Two
standard errors are the conventional statistical representation of a 95%
confidence level. The standard error is determined by the Australian
Statistician and provided to the Electoral Commissioner in accordance with
section 47.
28. Where the difference between the population needed to
achieve the additional seat and the Territory’s population is less than
two standard errors of the estimate of the measure of the net undercount at the
last Census, the Territory’s entitlement to seats is to be re-determined.
This provision only applies when the difference is within the ‘margin of
error’.
29. If the shortfall for the ACT or the Northern Territory
is within the ‘margin of error’, new subsection 48(2F) provides for
the determination to be re-made. The Territory’s population is taken to
be increased by the addition of two standard errors, with the result then
divided by the quota determined under subsection 48(2). The Electoral
Commissioner is to make this new determination as soon as possible, subject to
the timing specified at new subsection 48(2G).
30. A note has been
inserted at subsection 48(2F) to refer to adjustments that might be made to the
Northern Territory’s population as a result of the operation of
subsection 48(2C) (determinations relating to the Territories of Cocos
(Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island). When these adjustments are made, the
new population figure for the Northern Territory, which includes these
Territories, would be used for the purposes of new paragraph
48(2F)(c).
31. New subsection 48(2G) specifies the time period within
which the Electoral Commissioner must make the determinations under section
48.
Item 10 – At the end of section 48
32. This item
specifies the meaning of ‘standard error’ for the purposes of
section 48.
Item 11 – After section 48
33. This
item inserts a new section relating to the determination made by the Electoral
Commissioner under subsection 48(1) of the Electoral Act on 19 February 2003 as
it relates to the Northern Territory’s representation. The Electoral
Commissioner determined that one member would be chosen for the Northern
Territory at the next election. This would halve the Northern Territory’s
current representation of two members.
34. Section 48A provides that the
Electoral Commissioner’s determination of 19 February 2003 is set
aside, on commencement of the section, to the extent to which it relates to the
Northern Territory.
35. In order to avoid any doubt under section 50 of
the Electoral Act, the section specifies that the number of members to be chosen
in the Northern Territory after the commencement of section 48A and before the
Electoral Commissioner makes a new determination after the next federal
election, is to be in accordance with the most recent determination that was
made before the February 2003 determination. A note to the section indicates
that this was the determination of 9 December 1999 which specified that two
members would be chosen in the Northern Territory. An explanatory note is also
included about the February 2003 determination.
36. The section also
provides that, for the purposes of section 86 of the Electoral Act, two new
Divisions are taken to have been created on commencement of the section. This
provision serves two purposes. Firstly, it ensures the legality of all
enrolment transactions that have taken place in the Northern Territory since the
determination was made on 19 February 2003.
37. The provision also
will enable the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to create new rolls for
the two new Northern Territory Divisions on the day on which the section
commences. The new rolls will be created using the same mechanism used after
the completion of a redistribution. Elector details will then be removed from
the roll for the Division of the Northern Territory and placed on the rolls for
the Divisions of Lingiari and Solomon. The electors will then be notified by
the AEC of the change, either in writing or by advertisements placed in
newspapers.
Item 12 – Subparagraph
49(1)(a)(i)
38. Under section 49, the Electoral Commissioner must,
immediately upon making the determination under section 48, give the Minister a
certificate with details of the population figures and the numbers of members to
be chosen for the House of Representatives. This certificate must then be
published in the Gazette. The Minister is to table the certificate in
Parliament within five sitting days after receiving it.
39. Item 12
amends subsection 49(1) to specify that the populations of the Commonwealth, the
States and the Territories as listed at amended subsection 46(1) are to be
included in the certificate.
Item 13 – At the end of paragraph
49(1)(a)
40. This item amends paragraph 49(1)(a) to provide that
details of any adjustments made to the statistics supplied by the Australian
Statistician and details of all calculations involved in making the
determination, including adjustments, are to be included in the certificate
given to the Minister and published in the Gazette.
41. The
reference to adjustments to the statistics supplied by the Australian
Statistician are references to those adjustments which may be necessary to give
effect to provisions of the Electoral Act, for example, the addition of the
population figure for the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands to the Northern
Territory’s population under subsection 48(2C). Apart from
adjustments required under the Electoral Act, no other adjustments are to be
made to the statistics provided by the Australian Statistician.
Item
14 – At the end of subsection 49(1)
42. Item 14 adds a note
referring to the various sections of the Electoral Act for which adjustments of
the statistics supplied by the Australian Statistician may be
required.
Item 15 – After subsection 49(1)
43. Item
15 provides for the time period within which the certificate presented to the
Minister must be published in the Gazette.