Photographer : DeanTerry
The Federal Government is currently undergoing a process of ‘electoral reform’, which it claims will bring about a fairer and more transparent system for electing our political representatives. The reforms examine all aspects of how political parties and their election campaigns are funded, and the rules governing the voting process.
In December 2008, the Government began rolling out the reforms with the first ‘Electoral Reform Green Paper’. This paper focuses on funding issues such as campaign expenditure (how much is spent by candidates) and public and private funding (where the money comes from). The second Green Paper, to be released in late 2009, will focus on a broader range of issues.
The reforms are especially relevant at the moment considering the debate about political accountability going on in democracies around the world. In the UK especially there has been controversy over how politicians spend taxpayer’s money. Several senior ministers in the British Government have resigned over allegations of spending public money on personal items such as plasma televisions and cars—one MP was accused of installing a duck pond in his moat! Closer to home there has also been focus on political transparency. Former federal defence minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, recently resigned after inappropriate spending.
All of these cases remind of us of the importance of transparency and trust in the democratic system, which hopefully the electoral reforms will address. Mr. Fitzgibbon has been replaced by Senator John Faulkner, who is the former Special Minister of State, President of the Australian Labor Party, and was a NSW Senator for over 20 years. Senator Faulkner is the Minister responsible for the electoral reform process. I met with him to discuss the changes ahead...
Senator Faulkner, thank you for meeting with me. Firstly I’d like to ask a general question about the electoral reforms and what their purpose is?
Well the Government’s involved in a two-stage process to look at reforms of the Electoral Act. The first deals with issues of campaign financing in the broad so that’s donations, possible campaign expenditure, public funding and the like…The second stage of our reforms will be, more broadly, reforms relating to all the other provisions of the Electoral Act.
The Act, in my view, is in strong need of review and reform and that’s the process that the Government’s involved in. We’ve already got one piece of legislation on electoral reforms in the Parliament. Currently it’s being blocked by the Opposition in the Senate but we are very committed to continuing this process.
What about the numerous cases where candidates have given campaign money to charity? Does the Government find this unacceptable?
Well, that is a more proper way of dealing with these things. But in the Government’s view, that’s not the issue. The issue is a person who nominates for public office, doesn’t spend much on their campaign and does receive a substantial amount of public funding. So it’s a deliberate manipulation. That’s a much bigger problem than somebody who acknowledges there is an issue and doesn’t want to put any money in their own pocket but finds a reasonable alternative to dealing with these things.
Under the current system, are there any limits on campaign expenditure?
No, none at all.
In the Green Paper you talk about ‘legitimate money’. What makes a donor or a donation legitimate or illegitimate?
Well different people have different views about this. But I’ll tell you why I want to, for example, ban foreign donation. At the moment any money can be received from any individual overseas. So you could be an absolute out-and-out crook, an out-and-out criminal, donating to a political party or candidate from overseas, but there is no jurisdiction for the Australian Electoral Commission to get behind and go through all the checking processes.
That’s an example where the integrity of the system is not satisfactory. Most western democracies ban foreign donations for this very reason. Australia, which used to be at the cutting edge in relation to its electoral laws, is not there any longer and that’s a very good example of where integrity in the system is diminished. We want to see as much integrity in our political system as we can. You don’t want to see a situation where political influence can be bought in political parties or with political candidates by making huge donations.
Senator, I’m interested in the impact of the electoral reforms on young Australians. You’ve just said there’ll be a positive impact on all players in the political process. Does that include young people?
Look, I think everyone will benefit. I’m sure, however, that a fair electoral system is going to be received pretty positively among younger people, a bit more of a level playing field apart from anything else. My instinct is that it will be positively received by younger people in the community. But I suppose it’s fair to say that this should be a benefit to everyone.
If you move away from campaign finance reform then I can talk about specific benefits to young people…specifically the Labor Party went to the last election with a commitment to remove the provision in relation to closure of the rolls. That has a direct impact on young people. The close of rolls provisions that were introduced by the Howard Government, when it had an absolute majority in the Senate in 2006, disenfranchised around one hundred thousand young people who didn’t have an opportunity to get on the roll.
There are two ways closing the roll impacts people. Firstly, if you are currently on the roll, but you’re on the roll for the wrong place, then you don’t have an opportunity to correct or update your enrolment. And secondly, if you’re a new voter, and you’re not on the roll, and the rolls close, then you have no opportunity of getting on the roll. Now these provisions were deliberately introduced to stop young people getting on the roll….So that’s something, while obviously not being addressed in this Green Paper on campaign finance reform that will be addressed in our second Green Paper.
I’m very committed to reintroducing a window where those people who are on the roll have an opportunity to correct or update their enrolment, and young people who haven’t had a chance to get on the roll, do have that after an election is called.
In the Green Paper you talk about the impact ‘new media’ has had on the electoral process, particularly in relation to young people and voter turnout in the recent American election. What impact do you think ‘new media’ has had on the political activity of young people in Australia or on the Australian electoral process in general?
Well you may well be in a better position to judge that than me in some ways, but there is no doubt that political parties and candidates were much more focused on web-based campaigning, for example in the 2007 election, than in previous general elections. I think this trend is going to grow and continue.
This is the nature of modern society and I think it is also fair to say that it is certainly the way that younger people seem more likely, than perhaps older generations, to gain and access information about politics. So it’s critically important for those involved in the political process to realise that people use new media as a way of accessing information.
You mentioned earlier the consultation that has been undertaken in respect to these electoral reforms. Has the consultation involved young people at all? Did technology play a role in the process?
Well there’s been a capacity to access and contribute to the Green Paper consultation process online and many of the submissions come through that medium. We certainly know that some of our submitters are younger but I haven’t been briefed as to an age profile and it may be that we just don’t have that information at our fingertips, though some submissions have focused on the impact on young people specifically.
Well, Senator, many young people will now be much more informed about the electoral reforms as a result of this discussion. Thank you very much for your time.
