‘We intend to legislate’: Labor considering caps on election spending and public funding

Political parties would face a cap on how much they can spend during an election campaign under a suite of measures being considered by the Albanese government to overhaul the nation’s electoral funding laws.

A federal parliamentary inquiry set up by the government has been deluged with hundreds of submissions calling for caps on political donations as well as more transparency on disclosures.

Labor is considering a range of measures to boost integrity in the nation’s federal elections.Credit: Rob Homer

The government is considering a package of integrity measures including measures to force politicians to declare political donations over $1000 in real time and “truth in political advertising” laws.

At the request of Special Minister of State Don Farrell, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters is looking into the proposals as well as the conduct of the 2022 election. It has been asked to report back by September next year.

In a letter to the chair of the parliamentary committee, Farrell asked the inquiry to look at potential reforms “regarding electoral funding expenditure caps and public funding of parties and candidates”.

He also asked the committee to look at measures to increase electoral participation and lift enfranchisement of indigenous Australians.

The inquiry will also look into the issue of malapportionment, whereby votes in the Senate count for more than others due to the voter’s state or territory of residence. This could mean giving the Northern Territory and ACT more senators.

Farrell told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age the proposals involved complex areas of electoral law, and it was important the government got it right.

“Following the committee’s recommendations, we intend to legislate,” he said.

Farrell said the government wanted to consider “truth in political advertising laws” on a federal level, citing laws in South Australia that were already in effect.

In recent years both major parties have been criticised for scare campaigns. In 2016, Labor claimed that the Coalition was going to privatise Medicare, which wasn’t its policy. The Coalition later claimed Labor was going to introduce a “death tax” despite having no such policies.

A submission to the inquiry from UNSW professor George Williams said a lack of regulation meant “politicians can lie with impunity in the hope of misleading voters to secure electoral advantage”, referencing the scare campaigns involving Medicare and death taxes.

He said Australia should have a “narrowly drawn law for truth in political advertising”.

“There must always be space for robust debate and to question even the most accepted orthodoxy,” he said.

“It is also important that any new law cannot be weaponised during an election campaign by one party seeking court injunctions against its opponents.”

The inquiry has received over 200 submissions calling for an overhaul of political donations, including caps on either donations or spending.

However, it appears many of the submissions have come from the one campaign run by a group called the Australian Democracy Network.

“I believe we should be looking at urgently implementing a spending cap on parties and individuals to prevent this type of activity which is clearly anti-democratic and dangerous to the integrity of our voting system,” one submission said.

Another submission said there was a “pressing need for spending caps by campaigns for federal elections”.

“I am dismayed by how wealthy individuals and organisations can influence (or maybe more accurately ‘buy’) our democratic process by making large donations, or providing biased advertisements pushing their own interests,” another submission read.

“I strongly support the introduction of caps on election spending and election advertisements, especially of misleading statements.”

The chair of the inquiry, Labor MP Kate Thwaites, said the committee will be “looking at both reforms to political donations and reforms to funding of elections as part of our broader inquiry, and we do want to hear community views”.

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