Page 1208 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 1991
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I think it is something we ought to be looking at in a non-partisan sort of way.
I do think, otherwise it will get out of hand. We don't want the situation like we've got in the US where you have got to be a multi-millionaire to stand for President.
That was not a Labor person; it was not a Democrat; it was Mr John Elliott, the outgoing president of the Liberal Party, speaking on 8 April 1990 and he was right. For Mr Kaine to stand here and pretend that his party has never considered this proposal is quite misleading.
Late last year I had the privilege of going to America for the election, in company with representatives from a number of other Australian parties, and what we saw there was government by auction. If you did not have megabucks, if you were not backed by big business, you never even got to the starting point in electoral terms. We must avoid that in Australia. It is the basis of our democracy that anyone can run, that anyone has a fair chance, and that the community can support any candidate they wish.
The fact is that electronic advertising is beyond the financial reach of the vast majority of community groups and the vast majority of independents and individuals in our community. It has become the realm of only major parties, backed by major corporate sponsors, and it must be stopped. If Mr Stevenson cannot see that point, then I suggest that he is in the wrong game. In the interests of open government, I urge everybody to support the Federal Government's proposal.
MR HUMPHRIES (Minister for Health, Education and the Arts) (4.52): Mr Deputy Speaker, what an amazingly self-serving statement to have made: The big parties stand to gain the most. From which party does Ms Follett come? The Australian Labor Party. I think we can see very thinly veiled in this proposition from the Federal Government the self-interest of a government that is facing serious electoral trouble in this country. In other words, we can assume that the present unpopularity of the Hawke Government and their desperate desire to avoid the consequences of that have a lot to do with this proposal.
Ms Follett: It is more popular than you are, though.
MR HUMPHRIES: We will see about that, Ms Follett. The arguments put forward by Ms Follett have been quite extraordinary. First of all, she made the point to Mr Stevenson that the electronic media is a very expensive one and many people are denied access to it. The comments she makes - as usual, she is leaving the chamber, I see - may well be true of television, but we forget that this ban applies to all forms of electronic media, television and radio included.
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