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The bill seeks to make it harder for billionaires to buy elections.
It is a fantastic bill that makes it harder for the rich to steal elections. That’s why this literal coal baron (Australia’s Trump) hates the bill:
Yeah, right. Regular Australians harmed by an $800k spending limit. Ridiculous.
...impossible to read the Bill as a whole and make sense of it. The only way of doing it is to look at each amendment and figure out how it will alter the existing provisions in the Commonwealth Electoral Act and then try and work out how it all hangs together. Now, to do that properly would take weeks.
But we don't have weeks, because the Labor Government and the Coalition Opposition have done a deal behind closed doors and want this rushed before Parliament before anyone—like me—can point out what's wrong with it.
Now that's dreadful from a democratic accountability point of view. A Bill that's so complex and has such a profound impact upon our democratic system requires proper scrutiny.
Yiiikes.
She’s being dishonest.
Please elaborate.
Well, as I said above…
The bill seeks to make it harder for billionaires to buy elections.
It is a fantastic bill that makes it harder for the rich to steal elections. That’s why this literal coal baron (Australia’s Trump) hates the bill:
Yeah, right. Regular Australians harmed by an $800k spending limit. Ridiculous.
You don't see how it's beneficial to the big parties and very harmful to independents to have parties be able to amortise their advertising spend across all the seats they're running in, where an independent candidate is stuck at the limit for a single seat?
But more to the point: you don't think it's problematic to be trying to rush through the legislation without giving it time to undergo proper rigorous scrutiny? Even if its goals are just, if the method by which it's being achieved is not transparent, how can we trust their intentions? Especially if both Labor and the LNP are on board. That is what's ridiculous.
There’s no universe in which it makes sense to allow billionaire coal barons to buy elections, for “independent” parties or otherwise. I’m not sure what more there is to discuss.
The legislation is being rushed because it’s desperately needed and moneyed interests are already spreading disinformation to infect Australian politics just like they did in the US. For instance, this very video. I assume the woman in the video is well-intentioned though — no need to ascribe malice where stupidity will suffice.
There's no universe in which it makes sense to pass a bill in a single sitting week which won't take effect until after the next election regardless without allowing full scrutiny by independent experts. I'm not sure what more there is to discuss.
Seriously, your point of view here is fucking insane. Yes, the stated goals of this bill are laudable. We should be trying to minimise how much influence Palmer can have over politics. But not at the expense of minor parties and independents and in a way which reinforces the power of the major two parties. Any time a bill is rushed through this quickly, you should always be highly suspicious. You should also be highly suspicious of any bill that the ALP and LNP agree with but which smaller parties like the Greens and independents like Pocock disagree with. Doubly so if over 80% of ALP and LNP's own voters don't trust the process.
Have you even watched the video?