Nobody should be able to buy elections

Labor will introduce a bill to cap what anyone can spend in a Tasmanian state election.

A lot of Tasmanians feel the system isn’t working for them. And they’re right.

Bills are up. Rent is up. Hospital waits are getting longer. And too often it feels like nobody in politics is listening to the concerns of Tasmanians.

One reason is money. Right now, there’s no limit on how much can be spent in a Tasmanian state election by parties, candidates, and third-party campaigners.

Big corporations, lobby groups, and the very wealthy can pour as much money as they like into elections to push their agenda and influence votes. There are no guardrails.

Labor will change that. Our bill will cap election spending, and the same rules will apply to everyone, including us. 

Under Labor’s bill:

• Parties will be capped at $50,000 per candidate, up to a maximum of 35 candidates.
• Independent candidates will be capped at $60,000 each.
• Lobby groups and third-party campaigners will be capped at $75,000 statewide. That includes corporations, industry groups, wealthy individuals, unions, and other political campaigners. 
• The cap covers everything used to influence votes: TV, radio, newspaper and online ads, posters, flyers, letterbox drops and how-to-vote cards, plus the consultants and polling behind them. Donated advertising and other gifts count too, so there are no loopholes.  
• The day-to-day work of community and civil society groups won’t be affected.
• The cap will apply from nine months before an election is due, or from when Parliament is dissolved if that comes first, until 30 days after polling day. 
• Break the cap and you’ll pay back double what you overspent. There will also be criminal offences, with fines and up to two years imprisonment for breaking the rules.

This bill will take the big money out of our elections and level the playing field for everyone.

We expect the Liberal Party to oppose it, and we expect some of the biggest spenders and most powerful interests to oppose it too. 

We’re up for the fight because nobody should be able to buy an election.

Politics should be about ideas that will help Tasmanians, not who has the most money.