Page 1217 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 1991
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Such a combination of a ceiling on total expenditure, some free public air time and some public financial support would do several things at once. It would provide a fair go for large and small political parties and individual candidates. There would be an avoidance of the danger of one party with large funds buying an election through its ability to dominate the media, whether electronic, junk mailing, the newspapers, or whatever. There would be a fair go for the media itself, with the media providing free time but also being able to sell air time in a reasonable and proper way. It seems to me that what the Federal Labor Party has done is to say that there is this chunk of the public arena which must not have any advertising at all, and I find that strange. I would ask the Federal Labor Party to change its mind and say that there is that chunk of the public media which should allow free time for all parties.
MR COLLAERY (Attorney-General) (5.19): I wish to draw attention to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. I draw members' attention to article 1, which says that people should have the right to "freely determine their political status", and to article 25, which says:
Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentioned in article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions:
(a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives;
(b) To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections ...
When advertising reaches the stage where it is mind-bending - and I will not go into that - I believe that the articles here are engaged and I believe that article 19, which was referred to by my colleague Mr Humphries needs to be interpreted in the light of the preambular paragraph, article 1 and the other article I have read out.
I support Dr Kinloch's comments and believe that there is a median line. I also support Mr Justice Roden's comment that getting votes should never be a purchasable commodity, and that can often be the case when advertising reaches a range and level where unthinking, arbitrarily enrolled, compulsory voting people are mind-bended by that level of advertising.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: The time for the discussion has expired.
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