The NSW Socialist Alliance released the statement below on February 18.
* * *
The NSW Socialist Alliance condemns the latest state electoral funding reform bill as a direct attack on democratic rights and collective organising in the state.
The Liberal Party bill passed through NSW parliament with the support of the Greens on February 16. In what is already an inherently undemocratic electoral system, the reforms do nothing to “level the playing field”. Instead, they serve to further tip the scales in favour of the wealthy 1%.
Under the new funding laws, organisations such as community groups and trade unions are banned from donating to political parties, while severe and anti-democratic restrictions are imposed on their right to run political campaigns.
Corporations however, will remain free to spend more than $1 million campaigning for political parties of their choice. The new law limits the right to make political donations to individuals, further ensuring that the corporate rich, which already controls the economy and media, will have an even bigger influence on the outcome of elections to political office in NSW.
The ability of ordinary working people to pursue our political objectives — whether at election times or on the streets — is dependent on our right to organise collectively. By placing harsh restrictions on political campaigning and donations by trade unions and community groups, the law only serves to silence the 99%.
For this reason, the NSW Socialist Alliance calls for the immediate repeal of the electoral funding reform bill. In its place, we propose real measures that can begin to challenge the corporate elite's influence over the political process.
The measures include:
• abolishing restrictive and onerous electoral laws, including party registration laws and nomination deposit for both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, even the relatively low nomination deposit of $250 for the LA excludes many;
• abolishing the current funding model (defined in s.55 of the Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981), under which candidates are eligible for public funding only if they are elected or receive at least 4% of first preference votes, entrenching the status quo, and benefits the big parties in particular;
• introducing publicly funded election campaigns for all candidates, to move away from the current system based on commercial advertising, ensuring all candidates an equal amount of authorised information on TV and radio, in letterboxes and newspapers etc; and
• displaying all candidates’ “how to vote” instructions with equal prominence at all polling stations to remove the need for the wasteful distribution of HTV cards on polling day.
Such electoral funding reforms should also be accompanied with a deeper restructuring of the overall electoral system, now stacked in favour of the two traditional, pro-corporate parties.
This would require steps such as introducing genuinely proportional representation for elections to public office, the ability of voters to recall representatives, and placing politicians on an average workers’ wage.
