Chinese-born Hobart City Council candidate defends her right to ‘encourage’ international students to vote for her

A CHINESE-born Hobart City Council candidate accused of stacking the electoral roll with Chinese students to get elected says she has done nothing wrong.

Yongbei Tan is running for a seat on Hobart City Council. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

A CHINESE-born Hobart City Council alderman accused of stacking the electoral roll with Chinese students to get elected says she has done nothing wrong.

Yongbei Tang, an Australian citizen who has lived in Tasmania for 20 years, is seeking a seat on the council at the October elections.

She is the treasurer for the Multicultural Council of Tasmania and the president of the Chinese Cultural Society of Tasmania.

Ms Tang said she was running because as an immigrant she felt a desire to give back to the community.

“My platform is very clear and this is to enable the economic, social and cultural development of all residents of Hobart,” she said.

In journalist Charles Woolley’s piece in today’s TasWeekend, Hobart Alderman Marti Zucco says Ms Tang has been active in the student community and is behind the move to “exploit an electoral loophole and stack the rolls with Chinese students to get elected as an alderman”.

CHARLES WOOLEY: IN DEFENCE OF COUNCIL ELECTION VOTING

But Ms Tang said she carefully followed the rules and regulations.

“On August 14, I was invited by a UTAS students organisation called the Chinese traditional board game and culture exchange society.

“We all promote and encourage people to vote for us, it’s the same as anyone else going to a group of people and encouraging them to vote.

“This organisation informs students of their eligibility for voting in upcoming elections.”

International students who live in Hobart can enrol to vote in local government elections by applying to get on the general manager’s electoral roll as long as they can provide a supporting document with their completed electoral enrolment form, showing their name and current address.

The general manager’s roll is for people who are entitled to vote in a local government election other than those included on the electoral roll.

The general manger’s roll closed yesterday at 6pm with 1916 people on the list comprised of 662 corporate bodies, 665 nonresident owners and 589 non-Australian citizens.

This compares to 1814 enrolled on the roll in 2014.

Ald Zucco said transient residents should not decide the council election.

“Only permanent residents and Australian citizens should have the right to vote in local government elections,” he said.

“There could be a scenario that a person in Tasmania on a short to medium term visa could be elected as lord mayor or alderman of a city and this is not in the best interests of ratepayers.”

Tasmanian University Union international students officer Hans Zhuang said students who were in Hobart for three months or less should not vote but those who spent a year or more should be given the opportunity.

Hobart City Council general manager Nick Heath said he was confident in the checks that council staff undertook to ensure that those on the GM’s roll were eligible to vote in the council elections. “I must thank staff for their diligence in performing these checks,” he said.

“My position has always been that the roll should not be administered by the Council and that good governance dictates it be administered by a third party.”