On 20 November 2007 then members of the Liberal Party were involved in the distribution of unauthorised election material. This report proposes changes to electoral law to strengthen the prohibition on such activity.

Section 328 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (CEA) provides guidelines for the printing and publication of electoral advertisements, notices and other material. If a person or organisation wishes to print or publish electoral advertisements then they must include on the advertisement the name and address of the person authorising the advertisement, and the name and place of the printer. The penalty for not complying with these requirements is $1000 for an individual and $5000 for a body corporate.

The persons involved in the events in the division of Lindsay were in breach of section 328. Mr Gary Clark was fined the maximum amount. Three other persons were convicted of the crime. Mr Jeff Egan was not convicted because he claimed that he did not know that the electoral pamphlet did not contain the name and address of the person who authorised it and the name and address of the business of the printer. 

While the election pamphlet was unauthorised, it was the content matter that caused distress and disgust. The pamphlet sought to turn voters away from the Labor candidate and incite racial tensions. All members of the committee agreed that the actions that occurred in Lindsay were appalling and needed to be stamped out with the introduction of more significant penalties. The committee has recommended that section 328 of the CEA be redrafted as a strict liability offence and the maximum penalties be 60 penalty units ($6600) for an individual and 300 penalty units ($33,000) for a body corporate. Strict liability will make it more difficult for people to claim that they did not know that a pamphlet was not authorised.  
 
In reviewing the wider penalties in the CEA, the committee was advised that the penalties have not been updated since 1983. It should be noted that the committee in 1989 and again in 1996 recommended that the penalty framework in the CEA be updated. Unfortunately these recommendations were not progressed. The committee has now recommended that the Special Minister of State, with assistance from the Attorney-General, introduce amending legislation to update the penalty provisions in the CEA. When the amending legislation is introduced to the parliament it should be referred to the committee for a bills inquiry so the proposed changes can be publicly debated.