Responding to today’s release of the Final Report of the Independent Electoral Review, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“The recommendation from the Review to increase funding for political parties is morally wrong, and erodes grassroots democracy.

“No taxpayer should be forced to fork out money to fund parties they find morally reprehensible. People pay taxes so that it can be spent on quality public services, not party propaganda.

“If parties can rely on guaranteed money from the taxpayer, they become less reliant on membership dues and fundraisers. This reduces the incentive for parties to be responsive to their members’ values and will lead to less accountability.

“Incumbent political parties already receive substantial taxpayer funding through the broadcasting allocation and the ability to use Parliamentary Service funding for political advertising that is not even subject to our Official Information laws. Rather than shifting the money around and adding even more taxpayer funding into the mix, all taxpayer funding for political parties should be scrapped.

“We call on all political parties to publicly reject the recommendation for further taxpayer funding of political parties and urge them to go one step further by removing the broadcasting allocation and the ability to use taxpayer funds for blatantly political advertisements.”

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