ACT restricts democracy in elections
By Russell Pickering
CANBERRA — The Democratic Socialists, who are standing three candidates for the seat of Molonglo in the February 21 ACT election, are experiencing the difficulties encountered by smaller parties and independents in an arena stacked in favour of the big parties.
Recent legislation enacted for the election prohibits any display of canvassing material within 100 metres of polling booths. In some instances, this encroaches on private dwellings and shopping centres.
Aside from denying some people the right to put up election posters in their front yard, it makes it almost impossible for less resourced candidates to cover entrances to polling booths on election day.
The traditional election day culture of handing out how-to-vote cards and discussing politics has been curtailed, limiting public interaction in the electoral process. This is an advantage to the major parties, which can pay for media advertising or gain attention from the commercial press.
A recent move by the Department of Urban Services to bill political parties and individuals for the clean-up of political posters is yet another attack on smaller parties. While Liberal and Labor can afford widespread media advertising, the progressive left parties do not have the financial means to compete, so are subject to a media blackout.
Tim Gooden, one of Democratic Socialist candidates, told Green Left Weekly, "Besides these factors, minor parties also need to come up with a $250 deposit for each candidate. The major parties are assured of getting this back either by being elected or getting 20% of the quota.
"The biggest rort, which the public aren't aware of, is that the major parties fund their election campaign out of the pockets of the taxpayer. By getting at least 2% of formal votes, which they always get, they receive a rebate of $1.10 for every vote, which adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The average person is paying for their election campaign."
To stand as a candidate, Gooden was forced to resign from his job as a public servant. "The Electoral Act specifies that anyone who is a public employee is not eligible to be an MLA; although you may hold off resignation until after polling day, I have been given legal advice that I should resign because as a public servant anything I say could breach the public service rules and I could be fined or sued.
"So much for democracy! When you get down to the nitty-gritty of electoral politics, it favours the established major parties and inhibits the rest."
Another feature of the elections is the "Robson rotation". This involves candidates' names being printed in a different order on each ballot paper — supposedly designed to eliminate the donkey vote. It is no longer possible to vote for a party ticket in the order recommended by a party's how-to-vote unless you methodically search through the group's candidate names. This method makes it more difficult for people with limited English.
The "Robson rotation" favours the apolitical campaigns of the major parties in which political issues are relegated behind the "leadership qualities" of individual party candidates.