[ra]

In Australia it is compulsory to vote. Having lived here through four general elections, I actually believe it has a negative effect on democracy.

That is to say, compulsory voting forces the most disinterested and politically ignorant members of society into the polling booths. It usually favors the most conservative party. In Australia that translates to maintaining "old-fashioned" views on, most notably, processing of refugees.

[Volpe]

Is that problem really caused by compulsory voting, or more Australian society in general?

Australia was sporting the White Australia policy up until about 30 years ago, and still requires citizen applicants to pass an 'English' test. It's rather primitive and discriminative processing of refugees (arriving by boat only!?) seems to fall in line with that as well.