All Tasmanians should be very concerned by Labor's "new" election and campaign finance policy which, if implemented, would enshrine a massive structural advantage for Labor and the Greens.
Capping election campaigns, as proposed by Labor, is all about fiddling with the rules to suit Labor – and their coalition partners, the Greens.
First, Labor and the Greens campaign as a coalition so, for a start, their spending cap would be twice that of the Liberal Party.
Not to mention the third parties like the unions, the Wilderness Society and GetUp!, who will also separately advertise on their behalf.
The so-called policy has so many holes in it you could drive a truck through it.
It claims to provide a cap of $100,000 for third parties. But who is a ‘third party’ - does it cover the unions, the Wilderness Society and GetUp!?
And if unions are covered, is it a $100,000 cap for the entire union movement, or does each union (eg CPSU, Unions Tas, AEU, HACSU, CFMEU, AWU among many others) get a $100,000 cap?
What about someone who wanted to run a small advertisement on a single issue during the campaign- for example, in relation to animal welfare- would that person need to register with the Electoral Commission before they could run such an ad?
The reality is, this so-called policy is an administrative and free speech nightmare which is all about Labor and the Greens’ political self-interest, not the people of Tasmania.