An Assembly committee has recommended a fourfold increase in the amount political parties are given in public funding after each election, a measure Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury has slammed as an unconscionable act of self-interest by the major parties.
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At the moment, parties and independents who get more than 4 per cent of the vote in their electorate get $2 for each vote. A cross-party committee has recommended the amount be boosted to $8 (indexed each year), a measure that would have handed $690,000 to the Labor Party after the last election and a similar amount to the Liberals. The Greens got $48,000 in public funding but, under a payment of $8 a vote, would have got $190,000.
Mr Rattenbury said the move would deliver Labor and Liberal "a windfall at the expense of the ACT's democracy".
The three-member committee was chaired by Labor's Mick Gentleman, with the Liberals' Alistair Coe as deputy chairman and Mr Rattenbury as the third member. Mr Gentleman and Mr Coe argue that the increase in public funding would reduce reliance on donations from outside people or groups and so reduce the possibility of undue influence.
But Mr Rattenbury said increased public funding should only be a replacement to large donations, not an addition to them.
"The decision to increase public funding without reining in party expenditure or restricting individual donations is ludicrous," he said. "It's unconscionable to ask ACT taxpayers to cough up for $1 million election campaigns whilst the old parties tighten their grip around Canberra's democracy."
The funding move came on top of a decision by Labor and the Liberals to divide the city into five electorates with five members each from the next election, which would make it harder for minor parties and independents to get elected, he said.
The committee also rejected a recommendation from ACT Electoral Commissioner Phillip Green that it consider reducing the amount of administrative funding paid to political parties. Administrative funding is paid at the rate of $21,000 a year for each Assembly member and Mr Green pointed out that a 25-member Assembly would bring a considerable increase in the amount paid to parties.
Mr Rattenbury said the money was paid to politicians to cover the administrative costs of bookkeeping and reporting donations and spending. But it would also deliver a windfall to the major parties in a larger Assembly – if 10 members were elected, a party would get more than $200,000 a year, an amount well beyond any administrative costs, he said, suggesting a cap of $100,000.
The committee also recommended that the election spending cap for each candidate be reduced from $60,000 to $40,000. At the moment, candidates can spend up to $60,000 each and, with 17 candidates, that allows parties to spend just over $1 million on campaigns. Given the move to 25 members at the next election, the committee said the limit should be reduced to $40,000 each, which keeps the total party spending at $1 million.
Mr Rattenbury said party expenditure on elections should be capped at $500,000.
The committee recommended a change to disclosure rules for gifts. At the moment, the names of donors must be declared for any gifts above $250. The committee recommended a limit of $1000 before names must be disclosed, to a limit of $25,000 in anonymous gifts each year. It pointed out that existing rules are unclear.
It recommended an increase in the fine for failing to vote, from $20 to $40. Eleven per cent of electors failed to vote at the last election, the highest proportion in six elections.
The committee said the limit on electioneering around polling places should be increased from 100 metres to 250 metres.
The recommendations will go to the ACT Assembly.
