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Location: Government Reform
Discussion: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
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Anonymous |
Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Feb 28 2008, 8:38 PM EST Public funding of political parties currently benefits incumbant parties but leaves micro parties to exhaust member contributions trying to keep up. The application fees are refunded for major parties but not for micro parties. The whole system is geared towards incumbants. As a basic first step reform public funding of political parties should be abolished. 63 out of 74 found this valuable. Do you? |
 dra_red |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Mar 8 2008, 9:43 PM EST Abolishing taxpayer funding of political parties will strengthen the link between business and political parties. It will make political parties more reliant on external revenue and will increase the chance that their policies will be biased towards the wishes of contributers. I agree political parties should be competing in a fair playing field but if anything, the micro parties should be receiving more funding rather than decreasing the funding going to the major parties. cheers, Dale 3 out of 5 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Mar 10 2008, 1:38 AM EDT "It will make political parties more reliant on external revenue and will increase the chance that their policies will be biased towards the wishes of contributers. "If the competition was more open to multiple parties then so what? At the end of the day voters decide if they like the various parties or not. If you don't like what a party represents then don't vote for it. There is a good discussion of this issue here:- http://andrewnorton.info/blog/2008/03/04/political-incentives/ 0 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you? |
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dra_red |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Mar 10 2008, 5:12 AM EDT "If the competition was more open to multiple parties then so what? At the end of the day voters decide if they like the various parties or not. If you don't like what a party represents then don't vote for it. There is a good discussion of this issue here:-If things were that simple! People are swayed by marketing. Professional marketing can present ideas to selected groups in specific ways so to encourage favour but without the voter really understanding what they are voting for. This is especially true in Australia where it is compulsory to vote and hence we have a lot of people voting for a candidate with very little information about the candidate. A lot of the consequences of allowing a strong connection between business and politics are never seen or are not realised for many years. ie changes in media ownership laws will take many years before the full consequences are felt. Also, politicians are human. They make decisions based on the information that is provided to them. If they are surrounded by lobbyist (and they are if they are taking large campaign donations) then their perspective can be strongly warped. We end up with politicians who have a better idea of what people with money want rather than what their constituents want. Cheers, Dale 3 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
 Sympneology |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Mar 22 2008, 12:36 AM EDT The Premier of NSW, Morris Iemma, has the right idea when he proposes to abolish all non-taxpayer funded contributions to political parties. It is a well-established fact that corporations make large donations to the major parties in the expectation that this will open doors to them in the corridors of power, and the record shows that this expectation is not unrealised. If our politicians are to be representatives of us as taxpayers, then it is right that it should be we who fund their election campaigns, on the principle that "who pays the piper calls the tune". 3 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Mar 22 2008, 2:49 AM EDT I completely agree. I don't think politicians actually realise how this system can unknowingly affect their abilty to view a topic objectively. I would have a lot more respect for Morris Iemma if he is able to bring this about. cheers, Dale 3 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Andy38 Andy38 |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Mar 25 2008, 5:33 AM EDT For those who wish to retain tax-funded political parties I have some questions. 1) Who gets funded? 2) How much? The way I see it the only people tax-payer funding benefits are the current politicians, it supports the status quo. 0 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Sympneology |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Mar 25 2008, 10:44 PM EDT "For those who wish to retain tax-funded political parties I have some questions.So taxpayer funding supports the statu quo? Are you suggesting that corporate funding does not? With taxpayer funding the minor parties do get some compensation for their efforts in trying to make a contribution to community governance, but corporate funding is directed toward the parties that might form the majority in parliament and thus be in a position to repay them by way of favourable legislation, government contracts, etc. Who gets funded? As I understand it, all candidates who get a certain minimum proportion of the votes cast. How much? What they spent on the campaign. With taxpayer funding it will still be hard for new parties to break into the big-time, but they will have a better chance than they do now with all the corporate millions going to the major parties. 2 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Apr 9 2008, 9:14 PM EDT Here's an idea. Permit funding of political parties only by individual Australian citizens. ie no trade union donations, no corporate donations and zero government funding. 2 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you? |
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dra_red |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Apr 10 2008, 6:40 AM EDT imo, That would just mean that individuals would donate on behalf of their organisation. It would also mean that funding would drop to next to nothing. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Sympneology |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Apr 10 2008, 10:16 AM EDT "Here's an idea. Permit funding of political parties only by individual Australian citizens. ie no trade union donations, no corporate donations and zero government funding."There is really no alternative to the political party system of selection of candidates for election to our parliaments, and we should be thankful that we have one of the most democratic systems in the world. There are, however, perceptions that the current system of funding the parties, a mixture of individual donations, corporate and union donations, and funding from government revenue, has its faults. No-one has issue with the first source provided that there is a limit to the amount received from any one individual. Union contributions to the Labor party are supposed to be a portion of each affiliated union member's dues, and would thus fall under the heading of individual donations, but they should be transparent and accountable. Corporate donations, particularly from firms who have an interest in legislation of or business with any level of government, should not be accepted. That leaves taxpayer funding, which is the most transparent and accountable system of all, based as it is on recompense to the individual candidate for expenses incurred in standing for election. This is clearly the best option. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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dra_red |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Apr 11 2008, 9:47 AM EDT Symp, I agree with most of your statements with a few reservations. I don't know if it is a good idea to halt corporate donations. Transparency is a must but the economy is an important factor in our lives and it is important that businesses have the chance to support a candidate. Also, I do think that better political systems could be developed. Cheers, Dale 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Sympneology |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Apr 11 2008, 12:31 PM EDT A good model for election funding is that adopted by Canada: http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=ec90707&dir=bkg&lang=e&textonly=false or http://tinyurl.com/267y8 The Australian Electoral Office and the NSW government have already expressed an interest in this system. 2 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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old-bonez old-bonez |
RE: Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
Jun 1 2008, 4:07 AM EDT Being involved in Local Govt and knowing just how tough it is to run a campaign against the big 2 .... All our funding comes from the efforts of party members .... What I believe should be done is that a full page advert should be published by the Council that they stood for in the local paper. (These details have to be supplied by the candidate already). It has to be a prominent article so that people can notice it. The same thing should apply for State and Federal Govts. This information has to include information on just who made it as well as when and how much. If the information is prominent enough it might just stop funding from unsavoury sources. Just ask Sartor about receiving donations he wishes he never accepted. Make it prominent so that people will read it! Tax payer funding is the only way to go. Old-Bonez Do you find this valuable? |