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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
House of Assembly—No 25
As laid on the table and read a first time, 13 October 2004
South Australia
Direct
Democracy (Citizen-Initiated Referendums) Bill 2004
A Bill For
An
Act to enable the electors of South Australia to initiate referendums on
proposed laws, and to approve or disapprove such proposed laws at a referendum.
Contents
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Short title
2 Commencement
3 Interpretation
Part 2—Initiation of
referendums by petition
Division 1—Commencement of
petitions
4 Initiation of referendums by
electors
5 Petition details
6 Submission of petition to Electoral
Commissioner
7 Registration of petition
8 Preparation of statement to
accompany petition
9 Availability of copy of petition etc
Division 2—Electoral officials
10 Local electoral officials
Division 3—Signatories to
petition
11 Signatories to petition
12 Particulars of signatories to petition
13 Counting arrangements
Division 4—Qualification of
petition for submission of proposed law to electors
14 Closing date
15 Number of electors required to sign
petition to qualify for referendum
16 Electoral Commissioner to determine
whether petition qualifies
17 Certificate of qualification
18 Drafting of proposed law
19 Tabling of petition
20 Drafting of ballot papers
21 Bills to be submitted to the
referendum
Part 3—Referendum
22 Date of referendum
23 Conduct of referendum
24 Entitlement to vote
25 Duty to vote
26 Declaration of result of referendum
27 Approval by electors
Part 4—Advertising
28 Printing and publication of CIR
advertisements, notices etc
29 Misleading advertising
30 Heading to advertisements
31 Size of advertisements
32 Published material to identify person
responsible for content
33 Evidence
Part 5—Miscellaneous
34 General ability to withdraw petition
35 Effect of approved law
36 Offences relating to petitions
37 Application to Supreme Court to
restrain breach
38 Regulations
Schedule 1—Entrenchment
1 Entrenchment
2 Referendum requirements
3 Electoral Commissioner to conduct
referendum
4 Publication of result
5 Presentation of
Bill to Governor
The Parliament of South Australia enacts
as follows:
This Act may be cited as the Direct Democracy
(Citizen-Initiated Referendums) Act 2004.
The commencement of this Act is subject to the operation of the Referendum
(Direct Democracy) Act 2004 and, if approved at the referendum held under
that Act, this Act will come into operation 2 months after it is assented to by
the Governor.
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention
appears—
CIR advertisement means an advertisement containing CIR matter;
CIR matter means matter calculated—
(a) to
influence members of the public to sign, or not to sign, a registered petition
under this Act; or
(b) to
affect the result of a referendum of a proposed law under this Act;
CPI
means the Consumer Price Index (All Groups) for the City of Adelaide;
Electoral Commissioner includes a person for the time being
acting in the office of the Electoral Commissioner under the Electoral
Act 1985;
elector means a person whose name appears as an elector on an electoral
roll kept under the Electoral Act 1985 for House of Assembly elections
(not being a person under the age of 18 years who is provisionally enrolled),
and includes a person whose name should appear on such a roll as an elector but
has, by error, been omitted from the roll;
House of Assembly electoral district, electoral district or district means a
district for the return of a member of the House of Assembly;
local electoral official—see section 10;
Parliamentary Counsel includes a person for the time being acting in the office
of the Parliamentary Counsel;
petition means a petition for a referendum under this Act;
petitioner in relation to a petition, means a signatory to a petition who is
duly nominated or appointed under section 6 as a petitioner in relation to the
petition;
President means the President of the Legislative Council;
proposed law means a Bill for an Act within the legislative powers of the
Parliament of South Australia;
to publish includes to authorise, cause or permit to be published;
qualified petition means a petition for which a certificate of qualification
has been issued by the Electoral Commissioner under section 17(3);
registered petition means a petition registered by the Electoral Commissioner
under this Act;
referendum means a referendum on a proposed law conducted under and in
accordance with this Act;
Speaker means the Speaker of the House of Assembly.
(2) If
a monetary amount is followed by the word "(indexed)", the amount is
to be adjusted on 1 January of each year, beginning in 2005, by multiplying the
stated amount by a proportion obtained by dividing the CPI for the quarter
ending 30 June in the previous year by the CPI for the quarter ending 30 June
2003.
Part 2—Initiation of referendums by petition
Division 1—Commencement of petitions
4—Initiation of referendums by electors
Electors have the right to initiate referendums on proposed laws
by petition in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(1) A
petition is to be addressed to the President and the Speaker and request that a
referendum be held on the proposed law.
(2) A
petition must have a title and contain a prose description of the proposed law
in not more than 100 words.
(3) The
title and description of the proposed law must not be misleading.
(4) The
petition may be accompanied by written material in support of the petition.
(5) Any
such supporting material may contain arguments in support of the proposed law.
(6) The
petition, the summary and supporting material are to be framed so as to be
clearly intelligible, and must not have an ambiguous meaning.
(7) The
petition must comply with any other requirement determined by the Electoral
Commissioner and published in the Gazette for the purposes of this section.
6—Submission of petition to Electoral Commissioner
(1) A
petition prepared for the purposes of this Act must be submitted to the
Electoral Commissioner for registration.
(2) A petition submitted to the Electoral
Commissioner for registration—
(a) must
be signed by not less than 400 persons each of whom was an elector at the time
he or she signed the petition; and
(b) must
nominate between 7 and 25 signatories (inclusive) to the petition to be the
petitioners in relation to the petition for the purposes of this Act; and
(c) must
be accompanied by a lodgement fee of $8 000 (indexed); and
(d) must
comply with any other requirement prescribed by the regulations.
(3) Only
electors who sign a petition within 3 months before the date of delivery of the
petition to the Electoral Commissioner are to be taken into account for the
purposes of subsection (2).
(4) A
signatory to a petition may, by instrument in writing signed by a majority of
the existing petitioners, be appointed as an additional petitioner or to
replace a petitioner who has resigned or died (but the number of petitioners
must be kept to not more than 25).
(5) A
person must, by written notice (which may be incorporated into the original
petition), signify his or her consent to being a petitioner.
(6) A
person may resign from being a petitioner by written notice furnished to the
Electoral Commissioner and to the other petitioners.
(7) The
Electoral Commissioner must ensure that each petitioner is provided with a
certificate of identification.
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner should, subject to this section, register a petition
within 14 days after its delivery to the Electoral Commissioner.
(2) The Electoral Commissioner must not
register a petition if—
(a) it
does not comply with a relevant requirement of this Act; or
(b) it—
(i) deals
with 2 or more subject-matters which appear to the Electoral Commissioner to be
not directly or indirectly related; or
(ii) affects
the rights or liabilities of a named person (other than in the person's
capacity as a public official); or
(iii) provides
for the appointment of a named person to public office or for the removal of a
named person from public office; or
(iv) provides
for matter which, if enacted as a law of the State, would clearly be
inconsistent with the Australian Constitution or a Commonwealth law.
(3) The
Electoral Commissioner may consult with such persons as the Electoral
Commissioner thinks fit for the purposes of subsection (2).
(4) The
Electoral Commissioner may request or invite the petitioners to make such
changes to the petition (being changes to its title, the description of the
proposed law set out in the petition or the supporting material accompanying
the petition) as the Electoral Commissioner considers necessary to enable it to
be registered.
(5) Any
such change may be effected by the withdrawal of the petition and the delivery
of a new petition duly signed by the requisite number of electors or, if the
Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that the change does not alter the
substance of the proposed law, by a notice in writing signed by all the
petitioners.
(6) The
Electoral Commissioner must publish in the Gazette a notice of the title of a
petition registered by the Electoral Commissioner, the date of registration and
the description of the proposed law set out in the petition.
(7) The
Electoral Commissioner must notify the petitioners of a decision not to
register the petition and inform them of the reasons for that decision.
8—Preparation of statement to accompany petition
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner must, on the registration of a petition, deliver a copy
of the petition to the Parliamentary Counsel.
(2) The
Parliamentary Counsel must, on the receipt of a petition from the Electoral
Commissioner, prepare a brief outline of the legislative measure that the
Parliamentary Counsel would expect to prepare to give effect to the proposed
law set out in the petition.
(3) The
Parliamentary Counsel may, in preparing the outline, consult with such persons
as the Parliamentary Counsel thinks fit.
(4) The Parliamentary Counsel must, on the
completion of the outline, deliver a copy of the outline—
(a) to
the Electoral Commissioner; and
(b) to
the petitioners.
(5) The
outline will form part of the supporting material that is to accompany the
petition.
(6) Nothing
contained in an outline is binding with respect to the preparation of a draft
Bill if the petition subsequently becomes a qualified petition.
9—Availability of copy of petition etc
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner must make available for public inspection copies of any
petition registered by the Electoral Commissioner, together with any changes
notified to the Electoral Commissioner in accordance with this Act and any
supporting material accompanying the petition.
(2) Any
such material is to be made available at the office of the Electoral
Commissioner in Adelaide and at any other place designated by the regulations.
(3) The
Electoral Commissioner may make any such material available at any other place
determined by the Electoral Commissioner.
(4) The
Electoral Commissioner may make any such material available for sale at cost.
Division 2—Electoral officials
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner will appoint for each House of Assembly electoral
district a local electoral official to deal with petitions signed by electors
in that district.
(2) A
person may be appointed as the local electoral official for 2 or more districts.
(3) The
Electoral Commissioner may also appoint other persons as electoral officials to
assist in dealing with petitions.
(4) An
electoral official appointed under this section must exercise a function under
this Act in accordance with any relevant direction of the Electoral
Commissioner.
Division 3—Signatories to petition
(1) A
signatory to a registered petition must be an elector at the time he or she
signs the petition.
(2) A
person must not sign a registered petition more than once.
(3) A
person who is enrolled or who claims to be an elector may sign a registered
petition.
(4) The
Electoral Commissioner and any electoral official may use such electoral
information and material as the Electoral Commissioner thinks fit for the
purposes of determining the eligibility of signatories to the petition under
this Part.
12—Particulars of signatories to petition
(1) The following particulars of signatories
are required on a registered petition:
(a) the
full name of the person;
(b) the
address of the person (which should be shown on the relevant electoral roll for
the petition);
(c) the
date of birth of the person;
(d) the
signature of the person;
(e) the
date on which the person signs the petition;
(f) any
other information required by the regulations.
(2) The
required particulars (other than the signature) must appear in legible form.
(1) The Electoral Commissioner is to make the
following arrangements for the counting of signatories to a registered
petition:
(a) local
electoral officials on receipt of signed petitions are to deposit them in a
locked ballot-box until the count for the month;
(b) the
number of signatories to petitions returned to local electoral officials are
(during the currency of the petition) to be counted as soon as practicable
after the end of each month;
(c) signed
petitions are to be kept in batches according to each relevant month and
deposited in locked ballot-boxes;
(d) the
names of signatories to petitions that have been counted are to be marked off or
recorded against an appropriate copy of the electoral roll kept by the local
electoral official in a manner determined by the Electoral Commissioner;
(e) if
the name of a signatory has been marked off or recorded against a copy of the
relevant electoral roll, a further signature is not to be counted;
(f) a
local electoral official may make due inquiries to determine the eligibility of
a person to be a signatory to a petition;
(g) if
a local electoral official has reason to believe that a signature is not that
of a person eligible to be a signatory to a petition, the signature is not to
be counted by the official;
(h) if
it appears to a local electoral official that a signatory to a petition has not
completed all of the particulars required on the petition, the signature is not
to be counted by the official.
(2) The
local electoral official is to issue a certificate in the prescribed form
containing particulars of the count of each batch of signed petitions.
(3) The
certificate is to be kept with each batch and a copy sent to the Electoral
Commissioner and another copy kept for public inspection at the office of the
local electoral official.
(4) The
Electoral Commissioner or a local electoral official may recount a batch at any
time.
(5) The
relevant certificate of the count may be amended by the Electoral Commissioner
or a local electoral official, as required.
(6) A
local electoral official may, instead of counting the signatories and marking
them off the relevant roll, merely count the total number of signatories if it
appears (from a representative sample of at least 10% of the signatures) that
they are duly enrolled.
(7) The
Electoral Commissioner may direct that the representative sample used for the
purposes of subsection (6) be greater than 10%.
(8) A
certificate is then to be issued as an interim certificate.
(9) The
Electoral Commissioner may direct a full count of the signatories if it becomes
necessary to determine whether the petition is a qualified petition.
(10) The
Electoral Commissioner may at any time require counted batches of petitions to
be forwarded to the Electoral Commissioner.
(11) The
Electoral Commissioner is to ensure that the petitioners are given a reasonable
opportunity to be present at the count of the signatories to a petition and to
scrutinise the count.
(12) The
Electoral Commissioner must, on a monthly basis, by notice published in the
Gazette and in a newspaper circulating generally throughout the State, provide
the public with a progress report on the number of signatories to a petition
(but any number so provided will be taken to be indicative only and will not be
relevant to any formal determination about whether the petition is a qualified
petition).
Division 4—Qualification of petition for submission of proposed law to electors
The closing date (the last date on which a person may sign a
petition) is the date that is 8 months after the end of the month in which the
petition was registered.
15—Number of electors required to sign petition to qualify for referendum
(1) A
registered petition does not qualify for submission of the proposed law to a
referendum unless the number of electors who have signed the petition equals or
exceeds 3% of the total number of electors enrolled in the State for a general
election for the House of Assembly.
(2) Only
electors who sign a petition before the closing date for the petition are to be
taken into account for the purpose of determining whether the petition is a
qualified petition.
(3) Copies
of petitions are not to be taken into account if they are delivered to a local
electoral official later than 2 months after the closing date for the petition.
16—Electoral Commissioner to determine whether petition qualifies
(1) As
soon as practicable after the Electoral Commissioner receives certificates of
local electoral officials indicating signature of the petition by the requisite
number of duly qualified signatories to qualify for submission of the proposed
law to a referendum, the Electoral Commissioner is required to ascertain
whether the petition is a qualified petition.
(2) The
certificates of the local electoral officers are evidence of the number of
electors who have duly signed the petition.
(3) The
Electoral Commissioner may make inquiries for the purpose of being reasonably
satisfied that the petition has been signed by the requisite number of duly
qualified electors, and the Electoral Commissioner may reduce the number of
signatories in any batch where the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that
they should not be counted for the purposes of this Act.
(4) A
petition which does not qualify (taking into account the requirements of this
Act) has no effect, and is cancelled.
17—Certificate of qualification
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner must certify any petition which the Electoral
Commissioner determines qualifies for submission of the proposed law to a
referendum.
(2) The
certificate (a certificate of qualification) is to set out the
description of the proposed law.
(3) The
Electoral Commissioner issues the certificate of qualification by publishing
the certificate in the Gazette.
(4) If the Electoral Commissioner issues a
certificate of qualification, the Electoral Commissioner must, within 7 days,
deliver a copy of the certificate and any relevant material—
(a) to
the President and to the Speaker; and
(b) to
the Parliamentary Counsel.
(1) The
Parliamentary Counsel is required to prepare a draft of the law proposed by a
qualified petition in accordance with the relevant description supplied by the
Electoral Commissioner.
(2) The
Parliamentary Counsel must, in preparing a draft of the proposed law, consult
with one or more of the petitioners, and may consult with any other persons as
the Parliamentary Counsel thinks fit.
(3) The
Parliamentary Counsel may, in preparing a draft of a proposed law, on his or
her own initiative, include such provisions or make such adjustments as in his
or her opinion are necessary or appropriate to ensure that the law is legally
effective and include such transitional, machinery, ancillary or related
provisions as the Parliamentary Counsel (in his or her absolute discretion)
thinks fit.
(4) The Parliamentary Counsel must deliver a
settled draft of the proposed law—
(a) to
the President and the Speaker; and
(b) to
the petitioners.
(1) As soon as practicable after the Electoral
Commissioner has delivered to the President and the Speaker the certificate of
qualification for a petition and the Parliamentary Counsel has delivered to the
President and the Speaker a copy of the draft proposed law—
(a) the
President is required to cause a copy of the certificate and the draft Bill to
be tabled in the Legislative Council; and
(b) the
Speaker is required to cause a copy of the certificate and the draft Bill to be
tabled in the House of Assembly.
(2) The
Parliamentary Counsel may, after consultation with the President, the Speaker,
and a representative of the petitioners (nominated by a majority of the
petitioners in accordance with the regulations), and any other persons as the
Parliamentary Counsel thinks fit, alter and then resettle a draft Bill after it
has been tabled (and the Parliamentary Counsel may do this on more than 1
occasion but must not act so as to derogate from the general purposes of the
Bill).
(1) A
question on the ballot paper at a referendum of a proposed law may deal with
not more than 1 subject-matter of a proposed law unless the subject-matters are
directly or indirectly related.
(2) Separate
questions must be presented on the ballot paper if the Electoral Commissioner
or the Parliamentary Counsel requires the submission of separate questions on a
provision or provisions of a subject-matter of the proposed law to referendum.
(3) The
form and presentation of the ballot paper will be determined by the Electoral
Commissioner after consultation with the Parliamentary Counsel and a
representative of the petitioners nominated by a majority of the petitioners in
accordance with the regulations.
(4) If
there are 2 or more questions on the ballot paper, and these deal with the same
subject-matter, the voting on these questions may be by preferential voting, or
by some other method of voting, as determined by the Electoral Commissioner
after consultation with the petitioners (or a representative of the petitioners
nominated by a majority of the petitioners in accordance with the regulations).
(5) The
Electoral Commissioner may determine any other related matter as the Electoral
Commissioner thinks fit.
21—Bills to be submitted to the referendum
The Bill or Bills as last settled by the Parliamentary Counsel is
or are the Bill or Bills to be submitted to the referendum.
(1) Subject to this Act, a referendum on a
proposed law must be held on—
(a) unless
paragraph (b) applies, the date of the first general election of members
of the House of Assembly for which writs are issued by the Governor after the
tabling of the draft proposed law in both Houses of Parliament under section
19; or
(b) a
date determined by resolution of both Houses of Parliament, being a date that
is earlier than the date that would otherwise apply under paragraph (a).
(2) Nothing
in this section prevents more than 1 referendum being held on the same day.
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner is responsible for the conduct of the referendum.
(2) The
Electoral Act 1985 applies to the referendum with adaptions, exclusions
and modifications prescribed by regulation, or determined by the Electoral
Commissioner by notice in the Gazette, as if the referendum were a general
election of members of the House of Assembly.
(3) The
petitioners may, by notice given to the Electoral Commissioner in accordance
with the regulations, appoint 1 or more scrutineers for the purposes of the
referendum.
The persons entitled to vote at a referendum will be the electors
(and no other persons).
An elector is under a duty to vote at a referendum in accordance
with section 85 of the Electoral Act 1985 (as if a reference in
that section to an election were a reference to the referendum).
26—Declaration of result of referendum
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner must publish the result of a referendum by notice in the
Gazette when the result is conclusively determined.
(2) The
publication of a notice under subsection (1) is conclusive evidence of the
result of the referendum.
(1) A
proposed law is approved by the electors at a referendum if a majority of the
electors voting at the referendum approve the proposed law.
(2) On
approval, the proposed law is to be taken as incorporating a request to the
Governor that the Governor assent to the approved law, and the Electoral
Commissioner is required to present the approved law to the Governor for the
Governor's assent.
(3) The enacting provision of a law approved by
the electors, when so assented to, will be:
"The electors of South Australia under the provisions of the
Direct Democracy (Citizen-Initiated Referendums) Act 2004 enact as
follows:".
(4) If
the electors approve at 2 or more referendums held on the same day 2 or more
proposals the provisions of which conflict in any respect, the provisions of
the proposal receiving the highest affirmative vote will, to the extent of any
inconsistency, prevail, and those other provisions are, to the extent of any
inconsistency, invalid and of no effect.
28—Printing and publication of CIR advertisements, notices etc
(1) A person must not publish or distribute, or
cause or permit to be published or distributed, a CIR advertisement in printed
form unless—
(a) the
name and address (not being a post office box) of the author of the
advertisement, or the person who authorised its publication, appears at the
end; and
(b) in the case of a CIR advertisement that is
printed but not in a newspaper—the name and place of business of the printer
appears at the end.
Maximum penalty:
(a) if
the offender is a body corporate—$5 000;
(b) if
the offender is a natural person—$1 250.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation
to—
(a) a
car sticker, T-shirt, lapel button, lapel badge, pen, pencil or balloon; or
(b) an
article included in a prescribed class of articles.
(1) This
section applies to advertisements published by any means (including radio or
television).
(2) A person who authorises, causes or permits
the publication of a CIR advertisement (an advertiser) is guilty
of an offence if the advertisement contains a statement purporting to be a
statement of fact that is inaccurate and misleading to a material extent.
Maximum penalty:
(a) if
the offender is a body corporate—$10 000;
(b) if
the offender is a natural person—$1 250.
(3) However, it is a defence to a charge of an
offence against subsection (2) to establish that the defendant—
(a) took
no part in determining the content of the advertisement; and
(b) could
not reasonably be expected to have known that the statement to which the charge
relates was inaccurate and misleading.
(4) If the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied
that a CIR advertisement contains a statement purporting to be a statement of
fact that is inaccurate and misleading to a material extent, the Electoral
Commissioner may request the advertiser to do one or more of the following:
(a) withdraw
the advertisement from further publication;
(b) publish
a retraction in specified terms and a specified manner and form,
(and in proceedings for an offence against subsection (2) arising
from the advertisement, the advertiser's response to a request under this
subsection will be taken into account in assessing any penalty to which the
advertiser may be liable).
(1) If CIR matter is to be inserted in a
journal, the proprietor of the journal must cause the word
"advertisement" to be printed as a headline in letters not smaller
than 10 point or long primer to each article or paragraph containing the CIR
matter.
Maximum penalty:
(a) if
the offender is a body corporate—$2 500;
(b) if
the offender is a natural person—$750.
(2) This
section applies only in respect of CIR matter for the publication of which
payment or other consideration has been, or is to be, given.
(3) In this section—
journal means a newspaper, magazine or other periodical, whether
published for sale or for distribution without charge.
(1) A person must not exhibit a CIR
advertisement on—
(a) a
vehicle or vessel; or
(b) a
building, hoarding or other structure,
if the advertisement occupies an area in
excess of 1 square metre.
Maximum penalty: $1 250.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), CIR
advertisements—
(a) that
are apparently exhibited by or on behalf of the same person; and
(b) that
are at their nearest points within 1 metre of each other,
will be taken to form a single advertisement.
(3) This section does not apply to—
(a) the
exhibition of an advertisement in a theatre (including a drive-in theatre) by
means of a cinematograph; or
(b) the
exhibition of an advertisement of a prescribed kind or the exhibition of an
advertisement in circumstances of a prescribed kind.
32—Published material to identify person responsible for content
(1) A person must not publish material
consisting of, or containing a commentary on, the issues being submitted to
electors by a registered petition under this Act or in a referendum under this
Act, in written form, or by radio or television, unless the material or the
program in which the material is presented contains a statement of the name and
address (not being a post office box) of a person who takes responsibility for
the publication of the material.
Maximum penalty:
(a) if
the offender is a body corporate—$5 000;
(b) if
the offender is a natural person—$1 250.
(2) This section does not apply to—
(a) the
publication in a newspaper of a leading article;
(b) the
publication of a report of a meeting that does not contain any comment (other
than comment made by a speaker at the meeting) on the issues being submitted to
electors;
(c) the
publication in a newspaper of an article, letter, report or other matter if the
newspaper contains a statement to the effect that a person whose name and
address (not being a post office box) appears in the statement takes
responsibility for the publication of all CIR matter published in the
newspaper;
(d) a
news service or a current affairs programme on radio or television;
(e) any
other prescribed material or class of material.
In proceedings for an offence against this
Part—
(a) a
CIR advertisement that includes a statement that its publication was authorised
by a specified person; or
(b) a
CIR advertisement that includes a statement that it was printed by a specified
person; or
(c) material
consisting of, or containing, a commentary on the issues being submitted to
electors, that includes a statement that a specified person takes
responsibility for the publication of the material; or
(d) an
apparently genuine document purporting to be a certificate of the Electoral
Commissioner certifying that the Electoral Commissioner made a request for the
withdrawal of a misleading advertisement or the publication of a retraction,
is, in the absence of proof to the contrary, proof of that fact.
34—General ability to withdraw petition
(1) The petitioners may, by notice in writing
signed by a majority of the petitioners and provided to the Electoral
Commissioner, at any time, propose—
(a) the
withdrawal of a petition; or
(b) the
withdrawal of any part of the subject-matter of a proposed law; or
(c) the
postponement of the submission of a proposed law to referendum; or
(d) the
termination of a referendum.
(2) Subject
to any determination of the Electoral Commissioner after consultation with the
Attorney-General, a notice under subsection (1) will have effect according to
its terms (and the Electoral Commissioner must give notice of this in the
Gazette).
(1) A
law approved by electors at a referendum and assented to by the Governor under
this Act will be taken to be an Act of the Parliament of South Australia for
the purposes of any other Act or law (and may then be subject to the operation
of a subsequent Act of the Parliament).
(2) A
law approved by electors at a referendum may itself effect amendments to an Act
of Parliament (including an Act within the ambit of subsection (1)).
(3) An
irregularity in compliance with a provision of Part 2 does not affect the
validity of a law approved by electors at a referendum and assented to by the
Governor under this Act.
36—Offences relating to petitions
(1) A
person who signs another person's name to a petition or who knowingly signs a
petition more than once, or who, not being an elector, knowingly signs a
petition, is guilty of an offence.
(2) A
person who gives or offers or promises to give any money or other material
benefit to a person to obtain the person's signature to a petition is guilty of
an offence.
(3) A
person who, without reasonable excuse, hinders or obstructs a person from
collecting signatures for a petition is guilty of an offence.
(4) A
person who knowingly misrepresents a proposed law in order to induce a person
to sign or not sign a petition is guilty of an offence.
(5) A
person who uses or makes available to any person any particulars obtained from
a petition about a signatory to a petition for a purpose that is not connected
with the administration of this Act is guilty of an offence.
(6) A
person who threatens, offers or suggests any violence, injury, damage, loss or
disadvantage to any elector or any other person in order to induce an elector
to sign or refrain from signing a petition is guilty of an offence.
(7) A
person who inflicts or procures any violence, injury, damage, loss or
disadvantage to an elector or any other person for or on account of an elector
signing or refraining from signing a petition is guilty of an offence.
(8) A
person who prints, publishes or distributes any advertisement or document
containing a representation of a ballot paper, or any representation appearing
to represent a ballot paper, containing directions likely to mislead, or any
untrue or incorrect statement likely to mislead, an elector in or in relation
to the casting of a vote at a referendum is guilty of an offence.
(9) If
a body corporate is guilty of an offence against this Act, each director and
manager of the body corporate is guilty of an offence and liable to the same
penalty as may be imposed for the principal offence unless it is proved that
the principal offence did not result from failure on his or her part to take
reasonable and practicable measures to prevent the commission of the offence.
(10) A
person who is found guilty of an offence against this Act is liable to a
penalty not exceeding $10 000.
37—Application to Supreme Court to restrain breach
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner may apply to the Supreme Court for an order to remedy or
restrain a breach of this Act.
(2) An
application may be made in the absence of the respondent and, if the Court is
satisfied on the application that the respondent has a case to answer, the
Court may grant leave to the applicant to serve a summons requiring the
respondent to appear before the Court to show cause why an order should not be
made under this section.
(3) If—
(a) after
hearing—
(i) the
applicant and the respondent; and
(ii) any
other person who has, in the opinion of the Court, a proper interest in the
subject matter of the proceedings and desires to be heard in the proceedings,
the Court is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the
respondent to the application has breached this Act; or
(b) the
respondent fails to appear in response to the summons or, having appeared, does
not avail himself or herself of an opportunity to be heard,
the Court may, by order, exercise 1 or more of the following
powers:
(c) require
the respondent to refrain, either temporarily or permanently, from the act, or
course of action, that constitutes the breach;
(d) require
the respondent to make good the breach in a manner, and within a period,
specified by the Court, or to take such other action as may appear appropriate
to the Court;
(e) if
relevant—require the respondent to do one or both of the following:
(i) withdraw
an advertisement from further publication;
(ii) publish
a retraction in specified terms and in a specified manner and form;
(f) require
the respondent to pay to any person who has incurred costs or expenses as a
result of the breach, an amount for, or towards, those costs or expenses;
(g) if
the Court considers it appropriate to do so, require the respondent to pay an
amount, determined by the Court, in the nature of exemplary damages into the
Consolidated Account;
(h) require
the respondent to take specified action to publicise—
(i) the
breach of this Act; and
(ii) the
other requirements of the order made against the respondent.
(4) The
Court may make such order in relation to costs of proceedings under this
section as it thinks just and reasonable.
(5) In this section—
breach of this Act includes a threatened contravention of, or failure to
comply with, this Act.
(1) The
Governor may make such regulations as are contemplated by, or necessary or
expedient for the purposes, of this Act.
(2) Without limiting the generality of
subsection (1), the regulations may—
(a) provide
for the form and provision of any document under or for the purposes of this
Act; and
(b) provide
that any matter or thing is to be determined, dispensed with, regulated or
prohibited according to the discretion of the Electoral Commissioner or another
prescribed person; and
(c) impose
penalties, not exceeding $5 000, for a contravention of, or failure to comply
with, a regulation.
Subject to this Schedule, a Bill passed by
the Parliament of South Australia providing for the repeal, suspension, expiry
or amendment of—
(a) sections
4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 or 35; or
(b) this
Schedule,
must not be presented to the Governor for assent unless or until
the Bill has been approved at a referendum of electors under this Schedule.
(1) A
referendum under this Schedule will be held on a date appointed by proclamation
for the purpose, being a date falling at least 2 months after the Bill is
passed by Parliament.
(2) The
question to be put at the referendum will be specified by proclamation.
3—Electoral Commissioner to conduct referendum
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner will be responsible for the conduct of the referendum.
(2) The
Electoral Act 1985 applies to the referendum with adaptions,
exclusions and modifications prescribed by regulation, or determined by the
Electoral Commissioner by notice in the Gazette, as if the referendum were a
general election of members of the House of Assembly.
(3) An
elector is under a duty to vote at the referendum.
(1) The
Electoral Commissioner must publish the result of the referendum by notice in
the Gazette when the result is conclusively determined.
(2) The
publication of a notice under subclause (1) is conclusive evidence of the
result of the referendum.
5—Presentation of Bill to Governor
If a majority of electors voting at the referendum approve the Bill at the referendum, it will be presented to the Governor for assent.