An electoral integrity taskforce has been praised after Australia's first successful prosecution of a person for breaching electoral laws that prohibit misleading or deceiving Australians about the act of casting a vote.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Labor's Kristy McBain, among others, was targeted with a series of spam emails during the 2020 Eden-Monaro byelection.
They included that Ms McBain, then a candidate, withdrew and voters must vote for Liberal Dr Fiona Kotvojs instead of Labor for their votes to be valid.
Allegations also included that Ms McBain had COVID.
In June 2020, the Australian Federal Police began an investigation following a report from the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce and the Australian Electoral Commission.
Police said that during the byelection, the offender sent more than 23 million emails to members of the public and organisations.
Following an arrest one month later, Ms McBain, who retained her seat in the recent election, said: "Any misinformation campaigns like we have seen with the email trail have been disappointing and is not something we want to see in our democracy."
Blacktown man Cheng Fan, 34, was on Thursday sentenced in the Penrith District Court after pleading guilty to 12 offences, including releasing misleading or deceptive matter in an election period and dealing in identification information and using it to commit fraud.
He was handed a fully suspended 20-month jail term until February 2024 upon him entering a three-year good behaviour order.
The targets of the offender's email campaign also included Dr Kotvojs, former MP Dave Sharma former MP and Dr Kerryn Phelps and their political parties.
Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers on Friday said the case marked Australia's first successful prosecution of a person for breaching electoral laws that prohibit misleading or deceiving Australians about the act of casting a vote.
"Yesterday's sentencing of Mr Fan demonstrates that those who seek to undermine the integrity of Australia's electoral system will be brought to account," Mr Rogers said.
"A result like this draws a line in the sand as it provides precedent for any similar misbehaviour in the future.
"This result is also a credit to the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce, to which the AEC referred this matter in 2020.
"The work of the taskforce is one more reason Australians can be confident in the integrity of our elections."
The taskforce is constituted by relevant agencies across federal government to provide information and advice to the electoral commissioner about matters that may compromise the real or perceived integrity of the federal election.
It was first in place for the federal byelections in 2018 and again for the 2019 and 2022 federal elections.
Conditions of the good behaviour order for Fan include accepting Community Corrections Service supervision for as long as considered necessary and obey all reasonable directions.
He must also undergo counselling as directed and engage in treatment for mental illness for two years.
The prosecution withdrew 22 other charges.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
