Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We don't let Coles and Woolies make the laws about who can compete with them, but Labor and Liberal are close to stitching up a deal to stop communities choosing different representatives. The Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Bill 2024 was rushed through this House in November, and it's likely to hit the Senate in this sitting. If you look closely, it's about making voters pay more for less choice. We do need greater transparency and some sort of donation cap. Voters should know where the money comes from before they vote, and no-one should be able to personally influence the outcome of an election. But the bill also contains some really complicated spending caps that lock in the two-party system. Under the bill, ads about a party, not an individual, are not included in the electoral spending cap, so a party can massively outspend an independent. And taxpayers will pay much more to the parties, so they'll have a war chest from the last election and new challengers will have nothing. The bottom line is it's very complicated and could fundamentally change who can get into our parliament. If the government doesn't refer this bill to a committee, it's because they don't want voters to know how it will really work. Instead of changing the rules to lock out others, both major parties could try being better leaders.