John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for drawing Senator Xenophon to order, Mr Acting Deputy President, for that very unruly interjection that he made! I was making the point that in the 2010 election the ballot paper for the Senate in New South Wales was 1,020 millimetres wide, so over a metre wide, and the print—and this is important—was down to 8.5 points in size. My understanding is that effectively a ballot paper of 1,020 millimetres is the widest that can be physically printed. I am concerned that if we have more groups on the New South Wales Senate ballot paper we are going to have to supply magnifying glasses to voters! But I do say that these amendments will impose a slightly higher but still a modest requirement on candidates standing for parliament to demonstrate some threshold of community support.

This bill contains a number of practical measures to improve the electoral process in Australia. I am very pleased that there is broad support in the parliament for these changes. I commend the bill.