But if the process was designed to improve trust in politicians, it has already backfired – with no public inquiry and a secretive consultation process.
Research from the Australia Institute identified major problems with the proposed laws. Any changes to South Australian democracy should still be subject to a Parliamentary review.
Key points:
- In June, the South Australian Government proposed legislation that would ban most political donations and dramatically increase public funding for parties and incumbent MPs.
- Unlike most changes to electoral laws, the proposed changes have not gone to a public inquiry. They have only been subject to a secret consultation, and the South Australian government refuses to publish the submissions to that consultation.
- There are some improvements in the revised bill, including a higher donation cap for new entrants and addressing the “funding trap” for existing small parties and recontesting independents.
- However, the revised bill also ignores expert advice by increasing spending on the major parties instead of reducing it and rejecting administrative funding for new entrants.
- The Australia Institute estimates that the proposed new public funding would cost South Australians $15 to $20 million per four-year electoral cycle, about three-quarters of which would go to the Liberal and Labor parties, and only about 1% to new entrants.
- The revised bill introduces two loopholes to the donation ban:
- MPs and political staffers can still pay a “levy” to their party. Historically, these levies have been worth more than the large political donations coming from vested interests and wealthy donors.
- Nominated entities that can continue to donate to the major parties. The equivalent of those in Victoria are the subject of a potential constitutional challenge.
“Politicians voting together to give political parties more money will reduce trust in government unless the public is included in the process,” said Bill Browne, Director of the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program.
“Far from getting money out of South Australian politics, these new laws usher in record-breaking spending – including an additional $15 million or more of public money.
“Premier Peter Malinauskas says that this legislation has ‘broad support in the community’ – so why won’t the South Australian Government publish submissions the community made to the secret consultation?
“The government’s original legislation was undemocratic, unfair and potentially unconstitutional, and needed major revisions.
“Australia Institute research highlighted many issues with the original bill, and we appreciate that some – like the “funding trap” for minor parties and the low donation cap for new entrants – have been improved. However, more and graver shortcomings have since been introduced – including unjustified sums of public money being spent on political parties and MPs.
“The only way to give South Australians confidence that the revised bill fixes these problems is by holding a public inquiry with public hearings.
“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.”
