Hi Allegra,

Today, the Government has introduced far-reaching electoral reforms to parliament.

Many of you have been emailing about what this means, so here is my take.

Competition is good for democracy – just like it’s good for supermarkets and airlines.

Support for the major parties is at an all-time low and people across the country are excited to finally have MPs that actually represent their community.

There is no such thing as a safe seat anymore, and that’s a good thing.

The Bill lowers the donation disclosure threshold to $1,000 and requires donations to be made public in real time. These are really positive changes, which I have advocated for since before I was elected.

The legislation also includes spending and donation caps, which I’m supportive of in principle. It’s sensible to limit Clive Palmer’s $100m spending and nobody wants Australia to go down the route of the US.

But the devil is in the detail.

These new laws have been written by the major parties behind closed doors and with no real public consultation. The Bill is more than 220 pages long and doesn’t even come into effect until July 2026.

Despite this complexity, the Government are trying to rush it through parliament in the next fortnight and they even voted against a call from the Crossbench for the Bill to go to a Committee.

The most important thing with the electoral system and electoral reform is having the confidence of the people. Rushing through legislation undermines this confidence.

This has all the hallmarks of a stitch-up that is intended to lock out new entrants.

If this deal was being done in the private sector, the ACCC would be all over it.

Here are some of the main issues with the Bill:

In a cost-of-living crisis, the Bill increases public funding for politicians by at least $70 million compared to 2022, with the vast majority going to the major parties.

Labor and the Liberal Party will be able to raise vast sums of public money in safe seats – and spend it in marginal electorates. Incumbent MPs will also get $30,000 per year to help comply with new disclosure rules, but this funding won’t be available to challengers.

The Bill also caps donations in a way that will allow each donor to give up to $180,000 per year to a major party, but only $20,000 to an Independent.

Over the course of an electoral cycle, that means the Labor party will be eligible to receive up to 36 times more from a single donor than a challenger independent.

And worse still, the Bill caps election spending by an Independent at $800,000 but gives the major parties a spending cap of $90 million.

The caps have been structured in such a way that a major party will always be able to outspend an Independent in a marginal seat.

This Bill does not get rid of big money in politics. It locks in big money for the major parties at the taxpayer’s expense.

Labor and the Liberal Party can’t agree on how to bring down the cost-of-living, tackle the housing crisis, or accelerate climate action – but conveniently, they can agree on changing electoral laws to benefit them.

This is a clear attempt to reduce competition in our democracy.

It’s got everything to do with politics and nothing to do with good policy.

If you are as frustrated by this as I am, there are some actions you can take.

Jacqui Lambie has started a petition asking parliamentarians not to back these reforms. You can also write to your local MP.

Let's not let the major parties get away with shutting out the healthy competition in our democracy.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or to let me know how you feel about this Bill.

Regards,

Allegra Spender MP