[political finance] Listener: EFA is an ass, a dog, and a dead duck

The Electoral Finance Act (EFA) is an ass, a dog, and a dead duck. This is what the Listener says in its editorial this week, which calls for the repeal of this ‘unworkable’ and ‘absurd’ legislation. A number of good points are made. First, it looks increasingly possible that some electorate seats ‘and possibly even the election itself, will be determined not by voters but by the High Court’. The many judicial appeals made under the EFA ‘are unlikely to be resolved before the election, raising the possibility of election night results being overturned later’. Second, in such litigation ‘The small parties, with fewer resources to spend on lawyers, are at a distinct disadvantage’. Third, the Listener recalls an important statement made by the Royal Commission on the Electoral System which seems to have been ignored by political finance reformers – the Commission said it’d be ‘futile to attempt to regulate all expenditure which might, directly or indirectly, affect the electoral chances of any candidate. Measures to control political spending must be confined to what is practicable’. The Listener editorial concludes by correctly pointing out that ‘Fostering a healthy democracy was never the motivation for this piece of law-making. And nor will it be the outcome’.