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THE member for Farrer, Sussan Ley, was “shocked and surprised” at revelations of alleged voter fraud in her neighbouring electorate, Indi, last September.
Her Liberal counterpart Sophie Mirabella lost her seat to Voices 4 Indi candidate Cathy McGowan by just 439 votes.
Ms Ley said she welcomed the Australian Electoral Commission investigation and said the electoral system had to have the highest integrity.
“When you win an election by a small amount, as I did in 2001 by just 206 votes, the last thing you would imagine is pulling votes in from elsewhere,” she said.
“My immediate reaction was I was surprised and shocked, but pleased to read in the coverage the electoral commission is taking it seriously.”
Ms Ley was speaking at road funding announcement in the Indi electorate, attended by Mrs Mirabella, who declined to comment.
But member for Benambra Bill Tilley, who was also at the road announcement, said the rules were clear — “you must enrol in the place where you reside”.
“It’s not when you come and visit the country from the city or this thing about expats,” he said. “This is not a border anomaly.”