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Canberra Today 20°/24° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Committee backs a corflute ban

FOLLOWING an inquiry into the 2020 ACT Election, the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety has recommended putting a cap on donations and banning corflutes, but isn’t keen on lowering the voting age.  

Published today (August 5), the “Inquiry Into the 2020 ACT Election and the Electoral Act” made 52 recommendations in relation to areas such as voting, donations and political advertising.

Recommendation 35 suggested that the ACT government explore options for reinstating the $10,000 cap on political donations, to remove the risk of perception of undue influence of private money in ACT elections.

The committee also recommended the ACT government explore legislative options to ban political donations from foreign sources, as well as from tobacco, liquor and gambling entities and associated industry representative bodies.

Recommendations around political advertising were made, too, suggesting that the government prohibit roadside signs for electoral advertising on public land.

As for lowering the age, which was pushed by the ACT Greens prior to the election, and remains a party policy for them, the recommendation was made to retain the voting age at 18.

Disappointed, ACT Greens young people spokesperson Johnathan Davis said they will continue to fight for young Canberrans to have a say about their future.

“The ACT Greens want to empower the next generation of Canberrans to be involved in the decisions that will impact them. We believe that in a healthy democracy, young people should be supported to engage with government and politics,” he said.

But it wasn’t all bad news for the Greens, who were delighted about the recommendations to ban roadside signs, to cap donations and to ban donations from gambling entities.

Reports on these recommendations are expected to appear before the assembly by March 2022.

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Ian Meikle, editor

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