- Electoral Amendment (Finance and Other Matters) Bill 2023 to be introduced into Parliament
- Delivers on commitment to greater transparency and accountability of donations to political parties
- Reforms designed to boost public confidence in election process
The Cook Government will introduce significant reforms to provide greater transparency and accountability of donations to political parties and candidates to ensure public confidence in the Western Australian election process.
The legislation delivers on a commitment to improve disclosure laws around political donations, introduce expenditure caps for election campaigns, and ban all foreign donations.
Any donation to a political party or candidate over $1,000 will need to be disclosed by the end of the next business day, during the capped expenditure period, which is the official election campaign period – from the issuing of the writs to the close of polls.
The disclosure improvement means members of the public can find out each day during a State election campaign, who has donated to which party or candidate, and how much they have donated. Outside of that period, donation disclosure must be updated every seven days.
The proposed reforms will introduce a requirement for State campaign accounts, ensuring reporting compliance, require registration of both third-party campaigners and how to vote cards, and increase the rate of reimbursement for electoral expenditure to support compliance with new transparency requirements.
The rate of reimbursement for electoral expenditure was set 17 years ago, and will now be increased from $2.26 to $4.40 per primary vote. WA’s rate will remain the lowest of any Australian State or territory with public funding.
The Cook Government is also imposing expenditure caps which will apply to political parties, candidates and third-party campaigners, to deliver fairer election campaigns, and a more level playing field.
There will also be new offence provisions for failure to comply with disclosure requirements, expenditure caps, campaign accounts and reporting requirements, and increased penalties for existing offences.
Political parties will also be banned from processing postal vote applications, and will not be able to distribute them unless in an approved form with applications returned directly to the WAEC.
The Government is also investigating options to establish a Parliamentary Budget Office to improve transparency and accountability in State election campaigns.
A Parliamentary Budget Office will ensure all election commitments are properly costed and the community has the opportunity to understand the financial implications of election commitments being made.
As stated by Premier Roger Cook:
“We made a commitment to ensure transparency, integrity, and accountability in the political process.
“Moving from a once-a-year disclosure requirement to effectively real-time disclosures is an important reform that will deliver genuine transparency in our political system.
“One of the key features of the Bill is giving the public visibility of donations, giving Western Australians greater confidence in our State electoral processes and institutions.
“Together with Queensland, WA will have the most rapid disclosure time in Australia.
“We will ban foreign donations to prevent foreign interests undermining Western Australia’s democracy, and introduce expenditure caps to ensure that there is a level playing field in which there is truly a representative democracy.
“These are sensible, well considered and fair reforms which will provide greater confidence in the Western Australian election process.”
As stated by Attorney General John Quigley:
“This Bill is the Government’s second tranche of electoral reforms and significantly modernises the political finance regime in Western Australia.
“The expenditure cap ensures a level playing field for all political parties and candidates. The online reporting tool for political donations will be simple, ensuring smaller parties or individual candidates are not unfairly burdened.
“I am exceptionally proud and appreciative of everyone who has contributed advice on the development of this Bill.
“We have worked closely with not only the Western Australian Electoral Commission, but also consulted with other Electoral Commissions, including New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, on the operation and effectiveness of their political finance systems.”
