As stated by Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on democracy Senator Larissa Waters
“All year Labor has used the JSCEM process as an excuse for rejecting independent and Greens private members’ bills for electoral reform on topics like truth in political advertising, donation reform and transparency, and on-the-day enrolment.
“And yet here we are, with the final JSCEM report delivered, and still zero detail on how Labor plans to work with the parliament to deliver improved transparency and integrity to our elections.
“The Greens welcome the proposal for more Senate seats for the territories, but it is very concerning to see no further progress made on donations, transparency or tackling misinformation in today’s report.
“If Labor is genuine about electoral reform to deal with misinformation, with big spenders like Clive Palmer, and with dark money, they’d be consulting and working with the crossbench instead of talking about ‘bipartisan approaches’.
“Any proposal that means that if you’re already elected you get a hefty envelope full of cash, but if you’re trying to get elected, your donations are heavily restricted is not a reform, it’s a rort.
“Propping up the dying two party system is not electoral reform, it’s a rort.
“After the Greens’ landslide outcome at the last election, and the victories of independents in metropolitan Liberal seats, the political class is feeling the heat.
“Labor and the Liberals’ vote is going backwards. The combined total of the two party vote in Australia has dropped from 98% of the vote in 1951, on a steady downward trend, to 68% at the last election.
“The Greens and independents stand ready to pass real democratic reforms with the Government, rather than the government doing a dirty deal with the Liberals that locks in the two party system.”
