Attorney-General Brian Wightman today tabled the Electoral Amendment (Electoral Expenditure and Political Donations) Bill 2013.
Mr Wightman said the State Government had consulted with the Tasmanian community and the reforms were a result of those consultations.
“There have been concerns raised in recent elections that high spending candidates are able to use their personal wealth to saturate electorates and gain election by means of their spending power.”
Mr Wightman said the amendments would:
• Set a limit of $75,000 per candidate on individual expenditure for House of Assembly elections.
• Set a cap on party expenditure of $750,000 for House of Assembly elections.
• Prohibit anonymous donations to individuals and parties more than $1500 from any one donor.
• Provide for ‘real time’ disclosure of donations of more than $1500 from a single source.
Mr Wightman said that Tasmania has one of the fairest and most representative electoral systems in the world.
“I believe that most Tasmanians would see these limits as being more than enough for a party to spend on an election campaign.”
Mr Wightman said strengthening trust in democracy was a priority for this Government.
“The effective regulation of political funding and expenditure is important in ensuring the fairness of our electoral system and the proper functioning of our democratic system of government.
“Transparency in political financing arguably protects against any actual or perceived impact that electoral donations may have on political decision making,” he said.
Brian Wightman Attorney-General
