ALP review: crackdown urged over ‘buying’ result

Anthony Albanese has been urged to devise a new policy to stop wealthy people from buying election outcomes.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: AAP

Anthony Albanese has been urged to devise a new policy to stop wealthy people from buying election outcomes with the ALP campaign review finding that Clive Palmer’s $70 million advertising blitz contributed to Labor’s shock election defeat.

The review also recommended that Labor pursue legislation for truth in political advertising and the capping of individual political donations, noting that the Coalition effectively used social media to expand the discussion about “Labor’s non-existent death tax policy.”

“The entry of Palmer as a high-wealth individual willing to outspend the entire Labor Party was a new factor in 2019,” the review said. “We do … recommend Labor pursue measures to prevent high-wealth individuals essentially buying elections, as this represents a threat to our democracy.”

The review noted that, during the six-week period to polling day, Mr Palmer spent more on advertising than the ALP and the Liberal Party combined and focused his campaign around a personal attack on Mr Shorten.

While Mr Palmers’ $70 million advertising blitz was deemed to amplify the Coalition’s anti-Labor message to economically insecure, low-income voters even though it failed to win over votes to the United Australia Party.

“The emergence on the Australian political scene of high-wealth individuals who deploy substantial financial resources to influence the outcome of elections must be resisted,” the review said.

“Money can distort democracy. A policy response from Labor should be pursued despite the difficulty of success in this parliament.”

The review also sounded the alarm on the Coalition scare campaign against Labor, including the claims that Labor would introduce a “death-tax.”

It concluded that Labor’s digital campaign needed to be “more agile and effective in countering disinformation on digital platforms” and said the spread of disinformation was “influencing democratic processes throughout the world.”

The review noted that Mr Shorten’s denial of claims that Labor would introduce an inheritance tax was ineffective and seized on by the Coalition to draw a comparison with Julia Gillard’s broken promise not to introduce a carbon tax.

It also warned that the Coalition’s death tax claim was deliberately merged in with other Labor policies, including its franking credit crackdown, to confuse voters.

“The Coalition badged the franking credits policy as the “retirees’ tax”, as if it applied to age pensioners as well as self-funded retirees,” it said.

“Then the Coalition and its allies morphed the “retirees’ tax” into a “death tax”, campaigning strongly on Facebook, in other social media, on Messenger and on conversational platforms used by culturally and linguistically diverse communities such as Wechat.”