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Leading civil and legal groups have condemned recommendations made by a parliamentary committee as “weakening fairness and equality” of elections by refusing to acknowledge an “enormous, unprecedented” campaign donation.
In December, the joint standing committee on electoral matters handed down its final report on the 2019 federal election. Despite covering Clive Palmer’s “enormous” donation of $83 million to his own campaign—which went towards “misleading” statements on social media—there were no related recommendations.
This includes introducing vote ID laws which the HRLC said would create a further barrier to voting by Australia’s “most disenfranchised populations”, ending compulsory preferential voting, stopping advocacy groups from handing out election information and creating barriers to issue-based advocacy in elections for charities.
Senior lawyer Alice Drury commented: “Instead of making our democracy more equal by limiting political donations and spending more powerful vested interests, the committee’s proposals compound inequality by suppressing voter rights and community participation in elections.”
During the review, 12 civil society organisations called for election spending caps and stronger transparency and accountability measures. Despite multiple submissions, they said these suggested reforms were rejected outright.
“We urgently need limits on political donations and election spending to restore balance, fairness and trust in Australian elections,” Ms Drury said.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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Naomi Neilson
