Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Voter Protections in Political Advertising) Bill 2026

Ms BOELE (Bradfield) (10:33): I second the motion. A strong democracy needs a firm foundation in fact, evidence and honesty. For that reason, it's a privilege to be speaking today on the need to have truth in political advertising to improve transparency and ban the lies.

I thank and commend the member for Warringah for her tireless work in this area. In the last parliament, the member introduced a bill to establish a truth-in-political-advertising framework for the Commonwealth elections and referendums. The bill she is proposing today, the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Voter Protections in Political Advertising) Bill 2026, makes some very important additions.

First, it would introduce a board to oversee the truth-in-political-advertising framework. The board would sit within the Australian Electoral Commission but make independent decisions, be led by experts and be capable of investigating breaches of the law. Second, it would create an enforceable ethical political advertising code to ensure that ads aren't peppered with disinformation and lies, that scientific claims reflect the evidence and that opinions are not presented as fact.

And, third, and very importantly, it responds to the rise of AI by requiring all ads to disclose when they use AI generated visual or audio content. We are already seeing malicious actors use AI to disrupt democratic processes. The ABC found 370 fake Australian political messages in just one week across 14 foreign run Facebook accounts, and, in the 2024 US election, AI voice agents were used to call citizens and tell them not to vote.

We need to inoculate our political process and our democracy from these risks. It's shocking that, as a politician, I could run ads tomorrow that have no bearing to the truth and face next to no consequences. It just doesn't make sense.

Most Aussies agree. Seventy per cent of voters support laws to require claims in political advertising to be accurate and truthful according to a poll commissioned by the Australian Democracy Network. And why wouldn't they?

Who wants to live in a democracy where our elected leaders, or those running against them, are free to lie and deceive. We don't allow it in our supermarkets, in our super funds or in our gas networks. Why do we tolerate it in our elections?

Without truth in political advertising, the quality of public discourse is degraded. I recommend this bill to the House and I thank the member for Warringah for her work in this area. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Buchholz ): The time allotted for this debate has expired.

The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.