David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister. That sounds good but it's not actually what's in the legislation. The 'playing field' is level on a candidate level, where it's $800,000 each, but, if you have a party, you can then tip in more money promoting that party as long as you don't mention that candidate.

One of the other things with new entrants and minor parties is that, if the candidate's name is in the party's name, you cannot spend more, as Labor or the Liberals could do. I understand you're trying to sell it as a level playing field, but, if you actually look at the details, it doesn't seem to be that way. Part of my question is: what modelling has been conducted on these impacts on new entrants—on new parties?