In a short primer on the South Australian political finance changes, The Australia Institute explains:
Key findings:
- The proposed laws have not been the subject of a Parliamentary Inquiry. These are normal for even minor changes to electoral laws, and these changes are among the largest ever in the state.
- The South Australian government conducted a secret, internal consultation; later reporting confirmed that the majority of submissions it received were opposed to the proposed laws.
- The government's independent review recommended administrative funding be decreased, from $1.4 million a year for each major party to $1.2 million. Instead, it was increased to $1.6 million.
- This alone gives Labor and Liberal an additional $3.2 million every four years.
- The proposed laws increase major party administrative funding in South Australia by 66 times compared to 10 years ago.
- The proposed laws introduce "nominated entities" to grandfather in assets of major parties.
- There is no principled reason for the special allowance for parties with exactly two MPs; it exists only to paper over the fundamental problems with a per-MP funding model.
"Behind Premier Malinauskas' proposed ban on most political donations is around $18 million in new taxpayer funding for political parties and candidates; the vast majority goes to the two major parties," said Bill Browne, Director of the Australia Institute's Democracy & Accountability Program.
"This legislation will make election campaigns and politicking in South Australia bigger and more expensive than ever - but with the public picking up most of the tab.
"In the house of review, parliamentarians described these dramatic changes to South Australian democracy as 'rushed', 'a bit of a leap of faith', an 'election vanity project', 'Hobson's choice' and 'Sophie's choice'. That should set off alarm bells that this risky experiment needs to be rethought.
"The South Australian Parliament should test the robustness of this proposal through a Parliamentary Inquiry, at the very least.
"Trust is earned, and South Australia's parliamentarians can earn public trust by subjecting new money for politicians to the same scrutiny as they would any other law."
