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Tuesday, 14 September 1937

Mr THORBY (Calare) (Assistant Minister for Commerce) (1:55 AM) . - I move -

The purpose of this bill is to provide that the qualifications of electors of the Australian Dairy Produce Board shall be conferred only on those persons who are enrolled on the Commonwealth electoral roll in accordance with the provisions of Part VII. of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918-1934. '

By an amendment of the Dairy Produce Export Control Act in 1935, the Australian Dairy Produce Board was created. The constitution of this board is : -

One government nominee;

One elected by the Federal Council of the Australian Dairy Factory Managers' and Secretaries' Association ;

Two elected by owners of proprietary and privately-owned butter and cheese factories;

Two elected to represent co-operative butter and cheese factories in each of the States of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland; and

One elected to represent co-operative butter and cheese factories in each of the States of South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

One elected by producers in each of the States of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland; and

One elected by producers of the States of South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. In all of these cases, with the obvious exception of the Government nominee, election is as prescribed.

Under these conditions, unnaturalized aliens are entitled under the existing law to enrolment, and therefore entitled to sit as representatives on statutory boards.

We find that, for the elected representative of the Federal Council of the Australian Dairy Factory Managers' and Secretaries' Association, the secretary of that council must furnish to the chief electoral officer , a list of the names and addresses of the members of that council, and that list is deemed to be the roll for that election.

With regard to the election of cooperative butter and cheese factories - that is, for the two representatives from each of the States of South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania - all producers are entitled to vote who supplied, during the year preceding the election, milk or cream to any co-operative butter or cheese factory in the State in which they were entitled to vote. It is also provided that a producer entitled to vote for cooperative representatives, as well as for all other representatives of which I have made mention, shall, before his name is placed on a roll in respect of any of these representative elections, lodge with the returning officer certain prescribed forms attesting his eligibility to vote as ah owner or a producer. It will be seen from this, therefore, that there is no question of basic eligibility of the voter to comply with the first principles of citizenship: i.e., that he should be qualified to have his name enrolled on the Commonwealth electoral rolls. Thus there is a means whereby any man not having this qualification as an Australian citizen is nevertheless entitled to record his vote as to who should or sh ould not be elected a representative on this Australian Dairy Board. To remove this anomaly the present bill is brought down, and I commend it to the favorable consideration of honorable members. The bill will merely impose on those who become electors under the act exactly the same conditions as have always been imposed upon an elector under the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time, and reported from committee without amendment or debate; report adopted.

Bill - by leave - read a third time.

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