An explosion in spending means elections are at risk of being reduced to auctions, as they have been in the US
‘Political spending caps reinforce the fundamental democratic axiom that elections are a competition of ideas rather than dollars.’‘Political spending caps reinforce the fundamental democratic axiom that elections are a competition of ideas rather than dollars.’Last modified on Tue 11 Oct 2022 00.53 BSTustralia likes to think of itself as an electoral innovator. We pioneered the secret ballot, Saturday voting, women’s suffrage and compulsory voting.
It may be suggested that such election spending is a sign of a vibrant democracy. This is definitely not the case. Excessive and unachievable levels of expenditure deter many otherwise competitive candidates from contesting elections. Free electoral choice is merely an illusion if only a select few can raise enough funds to be competitive.
We expect our representatives and ministers to spend their time advocating for our interests and directing the organs of the state. Consistently high expenditure means our elected representatives spend a significant amount of time looking for the next election’s funds, rather than doing the job we sent them to Canberra to do.
We need only look overseas to see the dangers of leaving the system as it is. With more than $21bn spent in 2020, American elections have now devolved into merely auctions. Prohibitively high expenditure has cemented the two-party duopoly and left election participants beholden to well-resourced donors.
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