CPA opposes anti-democratic changes in NSW

by Rob Gowland

The Sydney District Committee of the Communist Party of Australia 
is continuing its campaign against proposals put forward by the 
Carr Government to "reform" the NSW Upper House of Parliament, 
the Legislative Council.

The Sydney DC has already written to every NSW parliamentarian 
setting out our objections to the changes originally proposed. 
These have now been substantially modified in response to public 
criticism, but still attack the democratic rights of the people 
of NSW.

The Sydney DC has decided to send a second letter to NSW 
politicians setting forth our objections to the legislation, even 
in its amended form.

The changes to the NSW electoral act now proposed include the 
introduction of a $3,500 fee and a minimum of 1,000 members (all 
of whom must annually sign "membership forms" produced by 
the Electoral Office) before a party can be registered.

Unless a party is registered its name does not appear next to its 
candidates on the ballot paper.

The authors of the proposed changes, notably NSW Treasurer 
Michael Egan, claim the "reforms" will overcome the problem of 
the tablecloth-sized upper house ballot paper, by restricting the 
formation of "frivolous parties" and also the formation and use 
of "feeder parties" to manipulate the flow of preferences.

The CPA Sydney DC says that, if that is the real aim of the 
changes, they will not achieve it. Rich parties will still have 
the funds to create dummy or feeder parties.

All parties, whether serious or frivolous, will be handicapped by 
the proposed changes. The 1,000-member minimum is very oppressive 
for serious parties but in no way deters non-serious or dummy 
parties from signing up members at railway stations, etc.

The changes will make NSW the most undemocratic State in the 
country. A check of WA, Victoria, ACT and Queensland shows that 
none of them charge a fee to register a political party. Nor does 
the Federal Government charge a fee for federal registration.

The proposals if implemented will prevent the "reasonable 
exercise of political rights" guaranteed under the UN Declaration 
on Human Rights and the UN Declaration on Civil and Political 
Rights.

The real motivation behind these "reforms" is not the size of the 
ballot paper but the fact that in the last election 30 percent of 
voters cast their primary vote for parties other than 
Labour or the Liberal/National.

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