Zali Steggall MP suspends standing orders for debate on Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2026
15/09/2026
Transcript:
Zali Steggall, Member for Warringah
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I move that so much of the standing and cessation orders be suspended, as would prevent the following from occurring immediately. One The Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Voter Protections in Political Advertising) Bill 2026 be called on two debate on the second reading of the bill, proceeding immediately for a period of no longer than one hour and three any questions required to complete the passage of the bill then being put without delay. Mr speaker, on this International Day of Democracy, we should remember that every seat in this chamber rests on a choice made by the Australian people. And you, as you just now, in reminding us of International Day of Democracy, the importance of the information on which voters rely is so very important in this current day and age, even more so than previously. Australian people entrust us with their future and we owe them an electoral process in which they can have confidence. That responsibility is becoming urgent from the Victorian elections. New South Wales elections within the next six months. Queensland, Northern Territory and the Act have elections scheduled for 2028 and of course the Australian Electoral Commission is preparing for a federal election in the period from August 2027 to May 2028. Ironically, some potentially within the next 12 months across those campaigns, Australians will confront an information environment that is rapidly changing at extraordinary speed. Australia lacks a national truth in political advertising laws to protect voters from misinformation and disinformation during election campaigns, but also from AI generated deepfake content. Artificial intelligence can manufacture a candidate's words and voice. Their networks of bots can amplify a lie until it appears to be common knowledge. Increasingly, AI agents can co-ordinate that activity with limited human direction. The risk is that Australians make decisions about their future on the basis of events that never happened, statements that were never made and apparent community sentiment manufactured by people hiding behind a screen, often in foreign nations, which essentially amounts to foreign interference. Those threats cross electoral boundaries.
This parliament must lead by putting effective protections in place for federal elections and referendums, and encouraging stronger standards across Australia. That is why I moved this motion to suspend standing orders to bring on debate without delay on this International Day for democracy, to ensure we have protections in place. The government has an opportunity to act while there is still time to prepare for the coming elections, and we should take it. I urge the house to suspend standing orders to resume debate on the private member's bill that I table, then put the questions necessary to complete the passage through the house. The integrity of elections that put all of us in this place warrants parliamentary debate and a vote. Voters are left exposed to misinformation and disinformation and intentional weaponization of deep fakes in our democratic elections. I've repeatedly asked the major parties to close this gap. Australians are protected when misleading advertising is used to sell them a product or service in the commercial environment. No-one disputes that that is some impediment of freedom of speech for commercial companies. Yet here we are in the political space a different, different standard is applied an overwhelmingly Australian voters want this fixed. They want this change. They want all of us held to a better standard. They should be entitled to comparable protections when advertising is used to secure their vote at a federal level. The existing prohibition primarily addresses deception about casting a ballot. It leaves a significant gap around factual claims used to influence a voter's choice. This does not mean impeding opinion. You can have opinion, but factual claims can be established. The government knows this. It has had ample opportunity to act. In fact itself in the previous parliament tabled legislation to amend electoral communications but then chose not to bring it on for debate or a vote. There are so many examples, Mr Speaker, around where this is important. I bring up the example of the previous member for Goldstein Zoe Daniel at the 2025 federal election in February 2025, the National Anti-Corruption Commission concluded that no corruption issue arose from the referral that had been made about her. There had been no use of Commonwealth Resources and the relevant conduct occurred without her knowledge or authority. Yet and this referral to the NAcc had been done by an ex Member of Parliament, a Liberal member, and it was clearly a politically motivated and what we saw were billboards continuing to circulate in Goldstein after the NAcc had dismissed the referral. Invoking the referral yet knowingly casting doubt on her integrity. And this billboard, of course, authorised by the previous Liberal member for Mackellar Jason Falinski, without including that the referral had been dismissed with no proper basis for it having been made.
This is the weaponization of an integrity process and a person can make a politically motivated complaint that does not establish wrongdoing yet advertising that will significantly impact and influence voters can freely throw with impunity, and there is no legal recourse. If this was commercial, it would be stopped. So, the urgency is obvious. After polling day, a correction cannot give voters back their opportunity to make an informed choice. AI and coordinated bot networks make that problem vastly harder to contain. ABC News Verify examined 370 images posted by 14 overseas run Facebook accounts in a single week in support of Pauline Hanson and One Nation. Now if that is not foreign interference, I don't know what is. Genuine and AI generated images were combined with fabricated stories about Australian public figures. Australian voters were already engaging with this material this month, Anthropic reported AI assisted influence operations using fake profiles and news sites, including campaigns timed to national elections. The machinery for deception is being developed and deployed, while parliaments are not even having the courage to debate whether to respond. Suspending standing orders today to give Australia that opportunity. The research from the University of Southern California also demonstrated in simulated social networks that AI agents could autonomously co-ordinate political messaging, amplify one another and reuse successful content. Agents can manufacture the impression of consensus and make a false claim look credible through repetition. Nearly 10 years after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, we cannot allow a repeat of a deception event of this nature with more advanced technology available, we can't leave individual Australians to investigate every account, image, ad and voice that they encounter. There. Commissioning and distributing political advertising must carry responsibility for its accuracy.
The private member's bill that I wish that I call on for debate provides a practical framework to do that. It establishes enforceable rules against misleading factual claims, false endorsements, deceptive representations about who authorised and distributed electoral material, politicians, parties, candidates and third party campaigners would be covered. First, it established for a political advertising Standards Board. It would sit within the AEC but be quite independent. This takes away any concern of the AEC Commissioner being implicated in having to be the decision maker. I am responding to the direct feedback of the AEC. It would bring judicial, legal or other specialist expertise to investigate. Breaches require corrections, removal or withdrawal. Second, it introduces an enforceable ethical political advertising code. Now this is not brain surgery. This is not a fanciful idea. Every other area of advertising has a standards code applicable to it. Why is political advertising exempt? This ethical political advertising code should be introduced. Third, and probably most importantly, AI generated political content would require clear watermarking, disclosure, including deep fake images and audio. So minor technical edits can be left alone. But if it is substantially AI generated, it should be disclosed. Viewers should be aware.
Now I want to plead on this because for women in politics, this is incredibly important. We face more than anyone else the disproportionate online harm including sexualised abuse and deepfakes when intimidation drives women out of public debate, the whole community loses. In June, I've asked the Prime Minister during question time when the government would act. He acknowledged the risks and dangers of AI could change and how it could change how politics operates, and would consider these proposals. But here we are within 12 months of the next federal election and still nothing. So today on International Day of Democracy, is the day to act. It is the opportunity for the government to make good on its previous its previous proposal and bring on a debate to ensure that we have protections for truth in political advertising
Dai Le, Member for Fowler:
Thank you. Speaker. I second the motion and as the member said and as you also mentioned, speaker, today is International Day of Democracy and therefore the member for Warringah request rests on a simple principle that Australians deserve the truth when they are being asked to cast their vote. That should not be a hard question from our political leaders. The fact that it even needs to be made in 2026 is quite extraordinary. Now our democracy depends on healthy, robust debate. It needs competing ideas and competing visions about who's best to be able to shoulder the responsibility of representing their community. But for the democracy, the democracy to work and to thrive. What is put before voters must be honest. Too often campaigns become a race to debunk claims that should never have been made, should never have been made in the first place.
When the member for Warringah first introduced this bill, she shared stories of community independence being targeted by third party campaigns during the 2025 federal election. Now I can tell this House my community was also targeted and how I found out by chance was, you know, at the end of a, you know, pre-poll day, going home at night. I do listen to meditation, turn on my YouTube channel and what did I see? I saw photos of me next to the then Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, and the words was that a vote for Dai Le was a vote for Dutton? Now, there were many untruths in that ad at pre-poll booths, posters were displayed falsely claiming I was preferencing the Liberals over Labor. I did not preference anyone, but that mattered little. I gave my community a guide and I told them to number the boxes as they saw fit because that is their right and choice. And as a matter of fact, the how to vote actually Labor was above Liberal. So therefore that was already false because, you know, if the number was going downwards, a Labor would have I would have preferenced Labor before Liberals. My team challenged the pollsters the day before the election. The wording was changed from a vote for became a risk off. Still misleading but apparently close enough to be allowed. Social media advertisements kept running and so did the targeted disinformation campaign aimed to confuse the people least equipped to test it.
The member for Warringah and I represent very different communities in very different parts of Sydney with different challenges and vulnerabilities. That is precisely why I support this motion. Even if an effective disinformation campaign including AI generated material that people struggle to distinguish from the real thing, has a damaging impact in one of Australia's most highly educated electorates. Imagine the consequences in a community like mine in Fowler. For many of my constituents, English is a second language working out how to complete a compete a ballot paper without support in their first language is very challenging already. It cannot be also a burden for them to work out whether what they read about a candidate has been fabricated. As the member said, you know, we it is our responsibility to make things simpler so that when people cast their vote, they know what they're casting and who they're casting for. In a community as rich and vibrant as Fowler, we cannot allow diversity to be exploited as a weakness. It is unacceptable for multicultural communities to be targeted through social or to Close social media groups, which are often the only accessible source of news. As a Proud democracy, we must do better than prove than prove the mistrust right. The only way to do that is to start with the truth.
This bill proposes that political advertising be truthful and factually accurate, that substantially AI generated content be clearly labelled and that an independent political advertising standard boards be established to uphold those standards. This is not an extraordinary ask. It is a bare minimum. Australian Consumer Law already prohibits businesses from making false or misleading claims about a product. Surely we can extend the same protection to the foundations of our democracy. So my message to the government is simple do not take the public for granted. Do not assume that a slogan repeated often enough is a substitute for earning someone's vote. I support the member for Warringah's motion so that this House can properly debate a bill that puts truth at the core of Australia's democratic process. And as we go back to that today, is International Day of Democracy. The least we can do is actually have a democratic process in this House and call on a debate and actually have a conversation and talk about what is truth and what can be used, especially during campaigning period where emotions are high and where, you know, members are trying to win votes and but to win votes in an honest and democratic way. And so I really commend this motion to the house.
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