It is not surprising that after decades of Coalition and Labor neoliberal governments robbing the poor to give to the rich, voters have been steadily deserting the major parties for smaller parties and independents.
A study by The Australia Institute (TAI), released last October, found that the share of the non-major party vote in federal elections rose from just 6.9% in 1982 to 31.5% in 2022.
A similar pattern can be observed in all states over this same time.
The Coalition and Labor parties have been the sole government parties for more than a century and they are determined not to relinquish their political duopoly.
The ruling elite has enjoyed the benefits of this two-party system because whichever side wins an election, they are guaranteed to have a pro-capitalist government!
Most big corporations make donations to both major parties.
Federal Labor disclosed just over $1.3 million in donations for 2023–24 and the Liberals $1.2 million.
However, as the Australian Financial Review reported on February 3, Labor also received “at least five times that from its secretive pay-for-access subscription program for executives and lobbyists” and the Liberals took twice as much as its disclosed donations from its paid-access subscription program.
The more corporations and lobbyists pay, the higher access they get — all the way up to the prime minister.
As the last term of federal parliament draws to an end, the major parties struck a deal on February 12 to rush the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Bill 2024 through the Senate.
It will give them even more of an election funding advantage over smaller parties and independents.
As TAI reported: “In Australia, parties and candidates receive about $3 per vote they receive. Everyone casts two votes — one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate — so every election you decide how about $6 of taxpayer money is distributed.
“Because parties and candidates get this money after the votes are counted, it only benefits those who are contesting the next election. A new party or candidate doesn’t get any money for their first campaign.
“This bill would increase per-vote public funding to $5 per vote. This will cost another $41 million per three-year election cycle, with about three-quarters (75%, or $32 million) going to major parties.”
The bill also provides for $17 million in new administrative funding — $90,000 for each election cycle for an MP, and $45,000 per cycle for a senator, the TAI added.
“If this funding were already in place, it would have been worth $8.1 million for Labor, $4.7 million for the Liberals, $1.6 million for the Nationals and $0.9 million for the Greens.
“New parties and candidates — who also have administrative costs — get nothing.”
The bill also introduces a $20,000 cap on election campaign donations, which will advantage the major parties because they register multiple parties for various states and territories.
TAI reported that “there are actually nine registered Labor parties: one for every state and territory and one federal”. This means that there are “nine opportunities to give to Labor in a given calendar year ($180,000 per year or $720,000 in an election cycle)”.
It said the Liberal Party has eight parties and the National Party five — “so someone can still donate over a million dollars to the Coalition every election cycle”.
Furthermore, the bill creates “nominated entities,” which will give the major parties another way around these donation caps.
TAI said on February 12 that the bill may also allow a billionaire-funded minor party to escape spending limits.
While the bill sets election spending caps, it also provides loopholes for the major parties.
This system of unfairly distributed electoral funding and corporate donations to the major parties is used to pay for deceptive and manipulative advertising campaigns to misinform the public and stir up racism, misogyny and bigotry against minorities.
It acts as a political scapegoating exercise to deflect from the pain the major parties’ neoliberal policies inflict on the majority.
TAI said the real-time disclosure and lower donation thresholds are welcome, but they could have been passed separately while the bill is closely scrutinised for its inconsistencies and amended.
This new law is the latest of several election law changes, at federal and state levels, which aim to advantage the major parties and make it harder for small and new parties to contest.
In Victoria, proportional voting through multi-member seats was replaced by a single-member ward system with the express intention of reducing the number of Greens and socialist local councillors.
Changes to federal election laws over decades have made it harder to register new parties and to keep that registration.
Candidate deposits for the House of Representatives and the Senate have also increased — a move that makes it harder for small and new parties, as well as independents.
Unfortunately, in the past, some of these changes have been supported by the Greens. They opposed this bill.
Even without the rigged funding, the major parties are already entrenched by the single-member electorates for the House of Representatives and in the lower houses in every state parliament except Tasmania.
Proportional representation for all houses of parliament would be part of a more democratic and representative system.
The current electoral funding system should be scrapped and replaced by a new system under which electoral commissions have the duty to distribute and publicise the policies and profiles of all candidates.
[Peter Boyle is a member of the Socialist Alliance national executive and will head its NSW Senate ticket in the 2025 elections. This article was updated on February 13.]