Freedomwatch
A program of the Institute of Public Affairs on threats to freedom of speech and personal liberty
Watch this terrific speech from Western Australian Senator Dean Smith today on why the local government referendum is so dangerous and must be rejected:
Many of Senator Smith’s colleagues share his views – but not all of them have said so publicly, because the Coalition has officially resolved to support the referendum. Full credit to Senator Smith for having the courage of his convictions.
This is encouraging. Liberal Senate Leader Eric Abetz demands equal funding for both sides in the local government referendum in a speech in the Senate this afternoon:
This follows Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s letter to Julia Gillard demanding equal funding, revealed exclusively on FreedomWatch this morning.
Of course, the IPA would much prefer that the Coalition opposed the referendum entirely. But it is welcome that they are fighting to ensure the referendum is conducted on an equal footing.
If the Gillard government persists with the unequal funding, the Coalition should oppose the referendum as a matter of principle. A change to the constitution should not be rammed through in an illegitimate process.
The federal Minister for Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport, Anthony Albanese, has announced that the government would provide up to $10.5 million in funding to proponents of the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cases on the referendum proposal for local government constitutional recognition.
But if anyone is given the impression that the government has now conceded an equitable public funding split to ensure a level playing field for both sides of the referendum debate, they should think again.
In arguably the most notable example of ‘mean and tricky’ politics of recent years, the Gillard government has decided to advance $10 million to the Australian Local Government Association, so that it can promote the ‘yes’ case.
By contrast, the government will provide just $500,000 for proponents of the ‘no’ case.
Yes, you’ve it read correctly, $10.0 million for the ‘yes’ case, and $0.5 million for ‘no’.
The cynically good graces of this government to throw some crumbs to the ‘no’ case was, apparently, determined on the basis that federal members of parliament voted 134 to two in favour of the local government referendum proposal.
Given that the carriage of the referendum proposal would further centralise power in the hands of Canberra politicians and bureaucrats, the public funding distribution is not only clearly disproportionate but is fundamentally undemocratic in its implications.
Recently we highlighted the dangerous proposal to give political parties more taxpayer dollars.
The proposal was abandoned once details become public and now we know why: only 29% of Australians support public funding of political parties.
The polling, conducted by Essential Vision, also shows that 47% of respondents – a plurality – think political parties should be entirely funded by voluntary donations. Among Coalition voters that figure was even higher at 53%.
Those most likely to support taxpayer funding of political parties are Greens voters (51%).
You can see the full results here.
The absurdity of the local government referendum continues. According to reports, this week Wyndham Council claims they cannot afford services for their ratepayers:
Wyndham council has slashed recurrent funding to key community groups including social welfare, housing and education providers, blaming a “tight economic environment”.
Several groups across Wyndham have reported that funding from council’s identified needs program had been cut by as much as 50 per cent in the proposed 2013-14 budget.The cuts mean an outreach and early intervention program that helps 400 vulnerable residents a year is on the chopping block and some of Wyndham’s annual community events will be “significantly scaled back”.
Without details we cannot assess the merits of the services and whether they should be funded by the Council, in the first place. But the cries of poverty are a bit rich from a Council that just threw $15,000 toward the Australian Local Government Association’s political campaign for the local government referendum:
Wyndham council will donate $15,000 to the Municipal Association of Victoria to help encourage Victorians to vote “yes” at September’s referendum on constitutional recognition of local government.
The Wyndham example is just a microcosm. Across the country Councils face tough budgets. But sadly the solution for many of them is to simply throw money at political campaigns, not take care of ratepayers.
There are two interesting stories about local government areas in Victoria chipping in to fund the ‘yes’ case for the forthcoming, indulgent referendum. According to the Maroondah & Yarra Ranges Weekly reports:
Maroondah council will chip in with $31,445 to the Australian Local Government Association’s proposed $10 million Yes campaign, which is likely to include a national advertising campaign.
But not all Councils are playing along. The Melton and Moorabool Weekly reports:
Based on Moorabool’s population and the council’s revenue, the MAV asked the municipality to contribute $12,132 to the campaign.
But Cr Tom Sullivan said the council should bypass payment. ‘‘It’s not good value for money,’’ he said. ‘‘You’d be better off spending the money on a street party.’’
Mayor Pat Toohey said ‘‘it would be like throwing money into the wind.’’
‘‘We’ve been given no advice with what they’ll do with the money,’’ he said.‘‘It would be negligent to throw it away without knowing where every penny is going.’’
It’s an astonishing proposition – Councils know where ratepayer’s money is going, and ratepayer’s money should be spent on ratepayers!
In the wake of the defeat of the most recent political party funding package, Prime Minister Julia Gillard is now threatening to revisit her original campaign finance reform package.
The original package is even worse than that proposed this week. It lowers the disclosure threshold to $1,000 (it’s currently $12,000; this week’s package proposed a $5,000 threshold) and, in a display of blatant xenophobia, it bans donations sourced from overseas.
Individuals – and groups of individuals – should be completely free to donate to any political party of their choosing. To restrict that right is to deny their chosen involvement in the democratic process.
Australia’s foremost campaign finance expert Andrew Norton is scathing: “There is almost nothing to be said in favour of this bill, and it would be sad day for Australian democracy if it is passed.”
Yesterday I wrote about the shocking political party funding deal struck between the major parties.
But last night the Daily Telegraph reported that the deal was dead, after a strong backlash from within Coalition ranks:
Liberal sources confirmed last night there was overwhelming momentum to ditch what had previously been bipartisan support for the deeply unpopular plan.
The Coalition informed the government last night that it had withdrawn its support.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus was still hoping the legislation might be voted on next week but admitted Labor “won’t be proceeding” if the Opposition dropped its support.
It has now been confirmed that the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Political Donations and Other Measures) Bill 2013 has been defeated before it even hit the floor of parliament.
The real story here is that of the public outcry over a deal that would have seen taxpayers fleeced of around $60 million. Voters recognised that this “reform” package was an assault on representative democracy and they told MPs all about it, as explained in the Courier Mail:
George Christensen tweeted that he had received “many emails anti funding boost” and said “I share concern”.
and the Sydney Morning Herald:
Several MPs have told Fairfax Media their offices have been fielding calls from voters angry at politicians voting themselves more money.
Dropping the proposed legislation is a welcome development and a testament to the Australian public, not to mention an excellent result for representative democracy.
© 2013 Freedomwatch. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by WordPress. Designed by 