STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms SITOU (Reid) (13:55): My family has never taken our democracy for granted. My parents grew up in a country where they didn't enjoy the freedoms we have in Australia today. They know what it means to live without the right to speak freely and the right to vote.

That's why they love Australia so much, and it's why we all have a responsibility to protect our democracy. It's more than casting a ballot; it's about making sure every person can exercise their right to do so freely and without intimidation. At the last election, I saw behaviour that undermined those principles.

In my electorate, members of the Exclusive Brethren were handing out for the Liberal Party. I witnessed an unprecedented influx of campaigners, aggressive behaviour and harassment, and some voters told me they were intimidated. There have been disturbing allegations that the Exclusive Brethren may have recruited Neo-Nazis to harass people at the election.

That is not what voting in Australia should ever look like, and the Liberal Party need to explain why they've chosen to undermine our democracy. Our democracy is precious, should be nurtured and should never be a plaything for the Liberal Party to toy with.