During a visit to Darwin on his return from Indonesia, prime minister Anthony Albanese launched a scathing attack on the former Morrison government, accusing it of voter suppression in the sprawling seat of Lingiari.
Mr Albanese said the hollowing out of Australian Electoral Commission resources in the Northern Territory by the former Coalition government was behind the record low voter turn-out of mainly First Nations voters.
"This was straight out of the right-wing Republican playbook. It was an outrage what occurred.
"It wasn't an accident — it was by design and they should be held to account for it," the prime minister said.
Just days before Australians cast their ballots in this year's federal election, the AEC had feared some 76 polling stations across remote and regional parts of the country with large numbers of Aboriginal voters would not open due to a lack of staff.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was an 'outrage' Lingiari had its worst voter turn out recorded in the 2022 federal election. Source: AAP
"There was a lack of resources to enable people to vote. We have one vote, one value in this country. It's an important part of our democracy," the prime minister said.
During the election campaign, the Northern Land Council for failing to do enough to enrol eligible Lingiari voters before the rolls closed two weeks into the campaign.
In the seat of Lingiari, the voter turn out plummeted to a dismal 66 per cent of eligible voters — the lowest nationally and worst result in a federal election.
"Every Australian, no matter where they live, no matter who they are, has equal right to be on the role and equal right to vote," the prime minister said.
'Racist' system stopped Black votes
Lingiari is one of the largest electorates in the country, covering more than a million square kilometres taking in almost all of the Northern Territory and its hundreds of remote and homeland communities.
It has the largest percentage of First Nations voters in the country with 40 per cent identifying as Indigenous.
The logistical challenges of polling such a vast seat are huge but Aboriginal advocates say more is at play than the tyranny of distance.
"It's racist — I believe there was an attempt to stop Blackfullas from voting," Thomas Mayor told NITV News
Uluru Statement from the Heart advocate Thomas Mayor welcomed the probe into voter participation saying the record low statistics were tantamount to discrimination.
Thomas Mayor said the low turn out was systemic disenfranchisement of First Nations voters Source: Living Black
"This is an issue of discriminatory policy," the Tiwi Islander man told NITV News.
Mr Mayor said the scale of the problem has been known about for years.
men brought a complaint to the Human Rights Commission over voter suppression in the 2019 federal election in the remote communities in the Northern Territory over remote polling concerns.
"There is a real disenfranchisement of our mob in remote communities. We believe that there's been discrimination against our people in remote communities," Mr Mayor said.
AEC: Lingari voter turn out 'disappointing'
The Australian Electoral Commission said it had made concerted efforts to drive up voter participation across the Northern Territory with a focus on remote Indigenous communities.
"The turnout rate in Lingiari does look like it will be slightly lower than 2019 and that is disappointing," the AEC said in a statement to NITV News.
The AEC said it will also launch a review into the voter turnout in the seat, particularly in First Nations communities.
"We’ll be reviewing NT and Indigenous participation very closely," a spokeswoman for the AEC said.
The AEC said Indigenous participation had climbed nationally and it had worked to ensure every Australian could cast their ballot under difficult circumstances including remote mobile polling booths.
