It is not surprising that after decades of Coalition and Labor neoliberal governments robbing the poor to give to the rich that voters have been steadily deserting the major parties for smaller parties and independents.
础听聽by The Australia Institute (TAI), released in October, found that the share of the non-major party vote in federal elections rose from just 6.9% in 1982 to 31.5% in 2022.
A similar pattern can be observed in all states over this same time.
The Coalition and Labor parties have been the sole government parties in this country for more than a century and they are determined not to relinquish their political duopoly.
As the last term of federal parliament draws to an end, the major parties are set to rush through the to give themselves even more of an election funding advantage over smaller parties and independents.
The ruling elite has enjoyed the benefits of this two-party system because whichever side wins an election, they are guaranteed to have a pro-capitalist government!
Most big corporations make donations to both major parties.
The major parties already receive the lion鈥檚 share of public electoral funding, and the new bill will ensure that that share grows even bigger.
As TAI聽: 鈥淚n Australia, parties and candidates receive about $3 per vote they receive. Everyone casts two votes 鈥 one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate 鈥 so every election you decide how about $6 of taxpayer money is distributed.
鈥淏ecause parties and candidates get this money after the votes are counted, it only benefits those who are contesting the next election. A new party or candidate doesn鈥檛 get any money for their first campaign.
鈥淭his bill would increase per-vote public funding to $5 per vote. This will cost another $41 million per three-year election cycle, with about three-quarters (75%, or $32 million) going to major parties.鈥
The bill also provides for $17 million in new administrative funding 鈥 $90,000 for each election cycle for an MP, and $45,000 per cycle for a senator, the TAI added.
鈥淚f this funding were already in place, it would have been worth $8.1 million for Labor, $4.7 million for the Liberals, $1.6 million for the Nationals and $0.9 million for the Greens.
鈥淣ew parties and candidates 鈥 who also have administrative costs 鈥 get nothing.鈥
The bill also introduces a $20,000 cap on election campaign donations, which will advantage the major parties because they register multiple parties for various states and territories.
TAI reported that 鈥渢here are actually nine registered Labor parties: one for every state and territory and one federal鈥. This means that there are 鈥渘ine opportunities to give to Labor in a given calendar year ($180,000 per year or $720,000 in an election cycle)鈥. It said the Liberal Party has eight parties and the National Party five 鈥 鈥渟o someone can still donate over a million dollars to the Coalition every election cycle鈥.
Furthermore, the bill creates 鈥渘ominated entities,鈥 which will give the major parties another way around these donation caps.
The bill also creates election spending caps, but once again provides loopholes for the major parties.
This system of unfairly distributed electoral funding and corporate donations to the major parties is used to pay for deceptive and manipulative advertising campaigns to misinform the public and stir up racism, misogyny and bigotry against minorities.
It acts as a political scapegoating exercise to deflect from the pain the major parties鈥 neoliberal policies inflict on the majority.
This new bill is the latest of several election law changes, at federal and state levels, which aim to advantage the major parties and made it harder for smaller and newer parties to contest.
In Victoria, proportional voting through multi-member seats was replaced by a single-member ward system with the express intention of聽reducing the number of Greens and socialist local councillors.
Changes to federal election laws over decades have made it harder to register new parties and to keep that registration. Candidate deposits for the House of Representatives and the Senate have also increased 鈥 a move that makes it harder for smaller and newer parties, as well as for independents. Unfortunately, some of these changes were聽.
Even without the rigged funding, the major parties are already entrenched by the single-member electorates for the House of Representatives and in the lower houses in every state parliament except Tasmania.
Proportional representation for all houses of parliament would be part of a more democratic and representative system.
The current聽 and replaced by a new system under which the electoral commissions have the duty to distribute and publicise the policies and profiles of all candidates.