Herald Sun  |  Sunday 19th May 2024

Quotes from Bill Lang, Executive Director at Small Business Australia

“At risk are up to one million voters losing their democratic right to have a say as to who represents them at a local level.”

“This is scandalous and has the potential to alter the results of council elections across the state, and poses the question of who stands to benefit from excluding business and property owners from the ballot.”

“We had assumed that those responsible for this enrolment (local councils and shires) would have systems in place to both proactively contact these ratepayers, as well as an easy mechanism for them to enrol to vote,”

“We could not have been more wrong, with the majority of councils (90 per cent in metropolitan Melbourne) having no system in place and many confused over the changes to the Local Government Act themselves.”

“When those who are responsible for ensuring your right to vote is protected have no idea how to do that, then what hope does the voter have in having their democratic right to vote protected.”