Andy Becker

Andrew Kingsley "Andy" Becker is a former Australian Electoral Commissioner who served in that position between 2000-2005.

Becker commenced his career as a Returning Officer in South Australia in 1967. He was appointed as Deputy Commissioner, in 1997, before being appointed as Commissioner in 2000. [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/19/1063625212259.html Meet Andy Becker, your fearless honest politics enforcer - OpinionWebDiaryArchive2003 - www.smh.com.au ] ] His appointment generated a degree of controversy, with the Opposition claiming that he had not been recommended for the position by the selection panel. [House of Representatives Hansard, 16 March 2000]

The Opposition later claimed that Becker had behaved inappropriately by giving the Australian Tax Office (ATO) access to the AEC database, to allow the ATO to do a mailout to all electors. [Senate Finance and Public Administration Estimates Hansard, 24 May 2000] The Government maintained that the Commissioner had done nothing wrong, and that such use of the electoral roll had been occurred previously, however the Privacy Commissioner, Malcolm Crompton, found that Becker breached privacy laws by handing over voters' details to the ATO.

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