Parliamentary Committee proposals a pathway to unfair elections and weaker democracy

Leading civil society groups have condemned recommendations from a Coalition-controlled parliamentary committee as weakening the fairness and equality of Australia’s elections.

Yesterday the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters handed down its report on the 2019 Federal election. The review covered Clive Palmer’s enormous, unprecedented donation of $83 million to his own campaign. His advertising spend, which included saturating social media platforms with misleading claims, far outstripped that of the major parties.

Nonetheless the Committee made no recommendations to reduce the distorting influence of massive political donations and unlimited election spending, and instead put forward a series of proposals which would suppress voter rights and community participation, including:

introducing voter ID laws, which would create a further barrier to voting by Australia’s most disenfranchised populations, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people;
Ending compulsory preferential voting, potentially leading to millions of voters not having a say in who gets elected to Parliament;
stopping advocacy groups from handing out election information to voters at polling places; and
creating barriers to issues-based advocacy in elections for some charities and not-for-profits.

During the review, 12 civil society organisations representing interests ranging from environmental protection to gun reform called for election spending caps and stronger transparency and accountability measures. Despite multiple submissions calling for the same, the Committee rejected the reforms outright.

In a positive step, the Committee recommended that the spread of disinformation in election campaigns be looked at by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Communications and Media Authority, although it missed an opportunity to recommend truth in electoral communication laws be introduced.

Alice Drury, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:

“Instead of making our democracy more equal by limiting political donations and spending from powerful vested interests, the Committee’s proposals compound inequality by suppressing voter rights and community participation in elections.

"We urgently need limits on political donations and election spending to restore balance, fairness and trust in Australian elections.”

Jolene Elberth, Democracy Campaigner at the Australian Conservation Foundation, said:

“What the 2019 Federal Election made clear was just how far behind our federal political finance regime is in regulating money in the political system, leaving vested interests to use their oversized wallets to influence election outcomes.

“It’s extremely disappointing to see the Committee make left field recommendations about further constricting charities and not for-profits ability to participate in elections debates, while outright rejecting reforms that would actually reduce the influence of big money over our political system.”

Dr Mark Zirnsak, social justice spokesperson from the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania, said:

“Spending caps for political parties and their associated entities frees them from spending their time chasing donations. Spending caps also frees them from owing favours to large donors. Political candidates can then focus more on talking about the issues that matter to the citizens that might vote for them.”

NSW, Qld, Tasmania and the ACT all limit the amount that can be spent during elections, while WA currently has a Bill before Parliament to do the same.

Read the submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Media here.