We already have some idea of the kind of election campaign we’re going to get — one filled with scare campaigns and personal abuse as the government seeks to claw back a massive Labor polling lead. But what kind of campaign should we get, if we had a half-decent polity and serious leaders?
Transparency
What we should get: real-time disclosure of all donations above $1000 from corporations, individuals and trade unions, and lists of attendees at all political party fundraisers over the past year so the public can see who is seeking access to and influence over politicians.
What we will get: limited lists of donors above $1000 on 1 February, 2023, with the Coalition refusing to report donors donors below $14,500, and a thick veil of secrecy over who is influencing elected officials.
Integrity
What we should get: a powerful, independent public watchdog over the federal government to investigate claims of corruption, state capture and misconduct and to intimidate politicians tempted to rort and pork-barrel taxpayer funds via election commitments.
What we will get: unchecked pork-barrelling from both sides given the lack of such a body. If the Coalition wins, no such body will ever exist.
Major issues
What we should get: a coherent vision of how each party sees Australia’s major challenges, how they relate to each other, what they want to do about them, and how they’ll do that — and how much it will cost.
What we will get: banal, motherhood statements of policy coupled with heavy reliance on slogans (welcome “Because Labor Cares” to the ranks of the three-word slogans) and micro-level policy announcements pitched at winning key seats.
Actual debate
What we should get: the key process of Australian democracy should also be the key moment for serious debate about major issues.
What we will get: while shadow minister debates are still a thing, we’ll be lucky to get more than one debate between the leaders and that will be controlled by the press gallery — thus required to follow a media-friendly format to showcase senior journalists. Both leaders will stick to their talking points while journalists try for gotcha questions.
An ideal format for leader debates would be three of them — one moderated by journalists, one a town-hall debate, and one in which the PM and opposition leader sit down at a table by themselves with one camera, unmoderated, and talk through an agenda of issues without interference or help from a media personality. While media-unfriendly, the format would force the leaders off their talking points and a dependence on media conventions.
Coverage
What we should get: media coverage that focuses on substantive issues rather than race-calling, does not provide a platform for the major parties to provide staged images for evening news bulletins, explains and examines policies and announcements and represents the public interest.
What we will get: shallow, image-based coverage from the discredited institution of the leaders’ buses, relentless focus on alleged “gaffes” or anything that could possibly be portrayed as a “gaffe”, and an obsession with who is deemed to be winning and losing (and mounting a late comeback). Also, News Corp and its determined campaign to keep Labor out of office.
Advertising
What we should get: limited advertising that acts as a cap on campaign expenditure and prevents billionaire participants from skewing results purely through colossal advertising spend, and a toughened-up version of South Australia’s truth in political advertising laws that actually impose a significant cost on parties for lying during campaigns.
What we will get: a brain-numbing barrage of advertising, much of it deeply misleading, as parties seek to spend their way to victory and Clive Palmer once again devotes the best part of $100 million to getting unengaged voters to lend him their support.
Cost-effective campaigns
What we should get: since much of the cost of campaigns is provided by taxpayers, we’re entitled to parties treating that money with respect and seeking to minimise the impact on the taxpayer.
What we will get: parties delaying their campaign launches until the last possible moment to take advantage of political funding rules, and the Coalition abusing government advertising rules to spend millions funding election ads for itself.
Tomorrow: the major issues that we should be hearing about but won’t.
