Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think you've put a real spin on it tonight, because two of the major political parties are going along with this. When you have everyone in the Greens and on the crossbench opposing this, it tells you something stinks to high heaven. Senator Pocock is right. Whatever anyone spends on an election should be questioned. You've said you're actually bringing down the cost in elections. The House and half-Senate elections in 2019 were $372,473,000 for the Australian people. The election of 2022 was $522,390,000, so it actually hasn't come down. The by-elections for Dunkley were over $3 million. Your referendum that you had in 2023 was over $411 million. You haven't brought anything down whatsoever. On top of that, it's actually costing the taxpayers now. You're increasing the $5 per vote on the primary vote. You're increasing that. On top of that, you're putting a cap of $90 million on spending, nationally, for a campaign of any political party. My concern is that the Labor Party is funded by the unions through the backdoor all the time, and this is not registered at all. This is behind-the-scenes backdoor funding that you are getting from the Labor Party, and you are going like a snake through the grass. You are not exposing this, and you expect us to be upfront in where we get our donations from. I don't trust the Labor Party. I don't trust you, the government, in what you are doing and where you're getting donations from.

Now, it has been extremely hard for the minor parties and Independents to actually win seats in parliament against the major political parties, but the Australian people are waking up to you because they've had a gutful of it and they want true representation. When you came into my office and spoke to me about it, and you wanted to raise the threshold, getting $30,000 per person in the lower house, per member of parliament, and $15,000 for each senator in the upper house, as compliance costs, I was absolutely ropeable, and I still am. This is nothing but a cash grab—a greedy grab by the government and the coalition. You know you've got the members in this House. I think you'll benefit by about $2.7 million a year to the party, at the cost of the taxpayers, for your compliance costs. But you have actually put compliance costs onto farmers, businesses and everyone else out there. Have you compensated them for the fact that they have to get tax agents and other people to do their compliance costs? No, you haven't. And you use this as an excuse to fill your coffers with taxpayers' moneys.

What you are doing is absolutely disgraceful. You know damn well that the Independents and minor parties can't compete with this. To have the coalition support you on this tells me, and the Australian people out there, a lot about both of you.

On top of that, you're getting $5 per primary vote as well. Is that fair? No, it's not. It stinks to high heaven. That's why you've got the Greens and all the crossbench here opposing this, based on principle. When you sit there, day in, day out, and push your policies, and reckon that you're fighting for the Australian people out there, trying to put them in a house and all the rest of it, you're two-faced hypocrites. And I'll tell you to your face: you're two-faced hypocrites. And we have to try and compete with you, to get democracy in this place, to give people fair representation. I don't always agree with my colleagues here and their policies—by no means. And they know it. But we should look at it, based on policy, to give fair representation for people. You are not doing that in this piece of legislation that you've put before us. You're rushing it through the parliament as well, without real debate.

This is a cash grab by the major political parties. I'll tell the public who are there: this is a cash grab by the major political parties for your money, taxpayers' money, and you're suffering out there. That is why we, all the crossbench here, are standing up to fight for your rights.

Yes, we'd love to have more cash. I run a political party and I do it bloody tough to try and get donations. We don't get the donations from the big end of business or the banks or the corporations—or from the unions that actually dominate and run the Labor Party. You, the elected people from the Labor Party, don't run it; the unions run you. That's who runs this country when the Labor Party is in government. The unions run you—tell you what to do and how to vote. They watch over you.

So, Minister, do you honestly believe that what you're pushing here is fair on the purse, the pocket, of the taxpayer? You've made comments about how it's going to be easier for anyone to run in this election—democracy. I've put up amendments to this to say: 'Let's get rid of the two-week polling. Let's get rid of all of this campaigning material; it shouldn't be allowed at polling booths; just put it up in the booth itself so that people can look at it.'

Why don't you run fair? You know that the minor parties and Independents can't compete with the money that you guys get. We can't compete with that. You've actually put a $90 million cap nationally on the major political parties. That's who can run this sort of campaign. We can't. You can put out all the material, all the advertising on TV and everything, and you're going to get refunded through the electoral system. You're going to get your money back. We can't do that.

Where's the fair play in this? Where is the democracy? Where is the fair play? Minister, are you going to address this honestly? Can I get a fair answer out of you? Do you think it's fair that parties can spend up to $90 million in this election and get refunded by the taxpayer? Is that fair?