Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment Act 1991 (Qld)

Queensland REFERENDUMS AND ELECTIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT ACT 1991 TABLE OF PROVISIONS Section Page PART 1—PRELIMINARY 1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 PART 2—AMENDMENTS OF THE REFERENDUMS ACT 1989 2 Amended Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 Amendment of s.1.2 (Definitions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 Insertion of new s.1.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3 References to Chief Returning Officer and principal electoral officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5 Replacement of s.3.1 (Distribution to electors of arguments) . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3.1 Publication of “yes” and “no” cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6 Amendment of s.3.2 (Limitation on Expenditure) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 7 Replacement of s.4.10 (Printing, supplying and distribution of ballot- papers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4.10 Printing, supplying and distributing ballot-papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8 Amendment of s.4.31 (General postal voters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 9 Insertion of new Part 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 PART 9—POLLING AT 1992 DAYLIGHT SAVING REFERENDUM 9.1 Application of Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9.2 Single electoral roll for distribution and referendum . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9.3 Directions by Electoral Commissioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

ii PART 3—AMENDMENT OF THE ELECTIONS ACT 1983 10 Amended Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 11 Amendment of s.6B (References to principal electoral officer) . . . . . . . . . 8 12 Omission of s.8 (Chief returning officer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Queensland Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment Act 1991 Act No. 82 of 1991 An Act to amend the Referendums Act 1989 and the Elections Act 1983 [Assented to 9 December 1991]

2 Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment No. 82, 1991 BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows. PART 1—PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment Act 1991 . PART 2—AMENDMENTS OF THE REFERENDUMS ACT 1989 Amended Act 2. The Referendums Act 1989 is amended as set out in this Part. Amendment of s.1.2 (Definitions) 3.(1) Section 1.2 (definitions “Chief Returning Officer” , “Minister” and “principal electoral officer” )— omit. (2) Section 1.2— insert— ‘“Electoral Commissioner” means the Electoral Commissioner appointed under the Elections Act 1983; ’.

3 Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment Insertion of new s.1.3 4. After section 1.2 (in Part I)— insert— No. 82, 1991 ‘References to Chief Returning Officer and principal electoral officer ‘1.3. A reference in this Act to the Chief Returning Officer or the principal electoral officer is a reference to the Electoral Commissioner. ’. Replacement of s.3.1 (Distribution to electors of arguments) 5. Section 3.1— omit, insert— ‘Publication of “yes” and “no” cases ‘3.1.(1) If— (a) a Bill or Question is the subject of a writ issued under this Act; and (b) within 4 weeks after— (i) the Bill is passed by the Legislative Assembly; or (ii) the Legislative Assembly resolves (whether before or after the commencement of this section) that the Question be submitted to the electors qualified to vote for the election of members of the Legislative Assembly; there is to be forwarded to the Electoral Commissioner— (iii) an argument in favour of the Bill or an affirmative answer to the Question to be submitted to the electors in accordance with the resolution, consisting of not more than 1 000 words, authorised by a majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly who both— (A) voted for the Bill or an affirmative answer to the Question; and

4 Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment No. 82, 1991 (B) desire to forward such an argument; or (iv) an argument against the Bill or an affirmative answer to the Question to be submitted to the electors in accordance with the resolution, consisting of not more than 1 000 words, authorised by a majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly who both— (A) voted against the Bill or an affirmative answer to the Question; and (B) desire to forward such an argument; then— (c) if— (i) the Commissioner receives an argument under paragraph (b)(i) and an argument under paragraph (b)(ii) in relation to the referendum; and (ii) each argument is accompanied by a request that the Electoral Commissioner cause a copy of the argument to be posted to each elector; subsection (3) applies to the referendum; and (d) in any other case—subsection (2) applies to the referendum. ‘(2) If this subsection applies to the referendum, the Electoral Commissioner must cause to be published in at least 2 newspapers circulating throughout the State, on at least 2 occasions (one occasion being the day before the day appointed for the referendum), a notice containing, as nearly as practicable, the argument in favour of or against the Bill or Question or both, as the case requires. ‘(3) If this subsection applies to the referendum, the Electoral Commissioner must, not later than 14 days before the day appointed for the referendum, cause to be printed and posted to each elector a pamphlet containing, as nearly as practicable, the arguments in favour of and against the Bill or Question. ‘(4) The format and printing style of a notice under subsection (2), or a pamphlet under subsection (3), are to be as the Electoral Commissioner determines. ’.

5 Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment No. 82, 1991 Amendment of s.3.2 (Limitation on Expenditure) 6. Section 3.2(a) and (b)— omit, insert— ‘ (a) the preparation and publication of newspaper notices under section 3.1; and (b) the preparation, printing and distribution of pamphlets under section 3.1, or the preparation and distribution of translations into other languages of material contained in those pamphlets; and ’. Replacement of s.4.10 (Printing, supplying and distribution of ballot- papers) 7. Section 4.10— omit, insert— ‘Printing, supplying and distributing ballot-papers ‘4.10.(1) The Electoral Commissioner must arrange for, control and supervise— (a) the printing of the ballot-papers for the taking of the poll; and (b) the supply to electoral officials of ballot-papers in sufficient numbers. ‘(2) Every ballot-paper must be— (a) in the appropriate form set out in the Schedule; and (b) of the colour approved by the Electoral Commissioner; and (c) attached to a butt that— (i) must not be part of the ballot-paper; and (ii) must be perforated in a way that permits the ballot-paper to be easily detached from it; and (iii) must be numbered in a regular arithmetical sequence starting at 1. ‘(3) The Electoral Commissioner may give directions with respect to the

6 Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment No. 82, 1991 printing of ballot-papers, their delivery to appropriate electoral officials and subsequent dealings with the ballot-papers by electoral officials and the printer. ‘(4) Subject to any directions under subsection (3), a returning officer must supply to each polling booth ballot-papers equal to the number of electors likely to vote at the polling booth. ‘(5) A person who contravenes a direction under subsection (3) commits an offence. Maximum penalty—10 penalty units. ‘(6) In this section— “electoralofficial” includes a returning officer, assistant returning officer, overseas officer, interstate officer, prescribed electoral registrar or presiding officer. ’. Amendment of s.4.31 (General postal voters) 8.(1) Section 4.31(1)— omit, insert— ‘(1) A person who is a general postal voter for the purposes of the CommonwealthElectoralAct1918 of the Commonwealth is a general postal voter for the purposes of this Act. ’. (2) Section 4.31(2)— omit ‘ whose name is entered in the register kept by him ’ (wherever occurring). Insertion of new Part 9 9. After section 8.7— insert—

7 Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment No. 82, 1991 ‘PART 9—POLLING AT 1992 DAYLIGHT SAVING REFERENDUM ‘Application of Part ‘9.1. (1) If a Question relating to daylight saving is the subject of a writ issued under this Act before April 1992, this Part applies to the referendum. ‘(2) A reference in this Part to the referendum is a reference to the referendum mentioned in subsection (1). ‘Single electoral roll for distribution and referendum ‘9.2. Despite section 4.2(3) of the ElectoralDistrictsAct1991 , it is sufficient compliance with that subsection if the roll of electors for an electoral district determined as mentioned in that subsection contains the name of electors registered as living in the electoral district on a date determined by the Electoral Commissioner that is not later than 3 months after the date mentioned in that subsection. ‘Directions by Electoral Commissioner ‘9.3.(1) If a difficulty arises in the application of this Act to the referendum, the Electoral Commissioner may give such directions, make such appointments and take such action as the Electoral Commissioner considers necessary or desirable to ensure that the votes of electors are properly taken, that the referendum is otherwise properly conducted and that any unnecessary expenditure of public money is avoided. ‘(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Electoral Commissioner may give directions— (a) amending the boundaries of any electoral district; or (b) amending any division of an electoral district into divisions; or (c) with respect to any roll to be used for the referendum. ‘(3) If the Electoral Commissioner exercises any powers under subsection (1) in relation to the referendum, the Electoral Commissioner must, within 30 days after the writ for the conduct of the referendum is

8 Referendums and Elections Legislation Amendment No. 82, 1991 returned, give to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly a report on the powers exercised under that subsection in relation to the referendum. ‘(4) A direction under subsection (1) has effect despite any other provision of this or any other Act. ’. PART 3—AMENDMENT OF THE ELECTIONS ACT 1983 Amended Act 10. The Elections Act 1983 is amended as set out in this Part. Amendment of s.6B (References to principal electoral officer) 11. Section 6B (after ‘ to ’ (first and second occurring))— insert ‘ chief returning officer and ’. Omission of s.8 (Chief returning officer) 12. Section 8— omit. The State of Queensland 1991