Peter Dutton eyes deals on electoral reform, social media ban in final parliamentary sitting week

Peter Dutton is preparing to back Labor’s electoral reforms and social media ban on under 16s, as Coalition MPs call for proper scrutiny.

Peter Dutton holds a press conference at Parliament House. Picture: Martin Ollman/NewsWire

Peter Dutton is preparing to back Labor’s electoral reforms and social media ban on under-16s before parliament rises at the end of next week, despite Coalition MPs calling for proper scrutiny of the bills and any unintended consequences.

The Coalition will wave the Albanese government’s electoral reform – which caps how much a party or independent candidate can spend in an electorate at $800k – through the House of Representatives but remains locked in negotiations on amendments it wants approved by the Senate.

A Coalition frontbencher declared the bill would ultimately “shoot through” parliament with few major changes, but there are concerns around exempting union fees from a $20,000 donation cap that individuals can contribute to state branches each year.

There are also fears the $1000 political donations disclosure threshold could expose small businesses and community groups.

“The disclosure level is far too low, $1000 is too low … and it does favour unions and the Labor Party,” a Coalition MP said.

“Yes, it’s ridiculous and anti-democratic, and there’s a lot I don’t like, but what’s the alternative? Seeing the teals bleat about it has made it even more (convincing).”

Special Minister of State Don Farrell slammed criticism from the Greens, teals and other crossbench MPs who warn independent candidates will be disadvantaged by the $800k electorate spend.

Crossbenchers are also scathing of the increase in public funding per vote from $3.43 now to $5, saying this will disproportionately benefit the major parties.

“Can they be serious? If you can’t get your message across with an $800,000 cap (on what any party or independent can spend in a single electorate), then there’s something wrong,” Senator Farrell told Sky News.

“What we’ve done here is set a level playing field for all of the participants. Nobody gets an advantage out of this. The Labor Party doesn’t, the Liberal Party doesn’t, the independents don’t … It’s all about putting downward pressure on the cost of elections in this country.

“This is all about ensuring that ordinary Australians can participate in the electoral process and that you don’t have to be a mate of a billionaire to participate in that electoral process.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt declared the electoral reforms would “prop up the major parties and entrench the duopoly”.

“People shouldn’t be disadvantaged just because you want to challenge someone who’s in. That’s what democracy is about,” he told ABC TV.

While Mr Dutton wants to see the ban on children under 16 using social media legislated before Christmas, Nationals MPs were concerned a platform such as YouTube could be captured by the legislation while Snapchat could be exempt.

The bill is due to be introduced to parliament on Thursday, with Communications Minister Michelle Rowland saying last week that YouTube could fall within the ban while YouTube Kids may be excluded.

Six Coalition MPs spoke about the ban in their partyroom meeting on Tuesday, with most agreeing YouTube was not where children were being harmed online.

“On what’s currently proposed, excluding Snapchat seems totally ridiculous and banning YouTube, which, apart from its communities arm, is a wonderful, impartial video library of everything from assembling furniture to building microchips to space rockets, and is a vehicle for free speech, which should never be banned,” Nationals MP David Gillespie said.

“This should go to a deep-level inquiry before any legislation or regulation.”