Fixed Term Election Bill should go further

The Greens have welcomed the government’s Bill to establish fixed term-elections, but say some of their suggestions for necessary reform which would give West Australians a more honest and accountable government have been ignored.

“If the government accepts that fixed term elections are the best outcome for an open and honest democracy, then it should also have taken the opportunity to include reform of issues such as the timing of donation disclosure and scrutiny of government advertising in line with those principles. Basically, it is a lost opportunity,” Alison Xamon MLC, WA Greens Spokesperson on Electoral Reform said.

The Electoral and Constitution Amendment Bill 2011 was finally debated and passed in the Parliament today with the support of all four parties.

“There is a real case to be made for urgent reform around the disclosure of political donations. The Greens believe that it is important that voters know who has been funding the campaigns of parties and, importantly, that they are able to get as much of this information as possible before an election. We could easily do this by moving to six monthly returns for political party funding thereby ensuring that disclosure occurs in the months immediately preceding polling day. Instead that suggestion has been ignored.

“We also raised the issue of increased scrutiny of government advertising in the lead-up to an election which with a fixed-term would be easier to assess. The Auditor-General could take responsibility for this and report to the public before election day. This would stop governments using taxpayers’ money on election advertising under the pretence of public service announcements.  But once again, this was not pursued.

“The Greens are still hopeful that there will be further reform presented by Government in time for the next state election.  Fixed-terms were a positive development but are only the start,” added Ms Xamon.