Political Free Choice !

When Australians who have attained their eighteenth birthday are handed a voting slip and walk into the privacy of a voting booth the choice of who they vote for is guarded by stringent election laws.  The winners of elections are not known until the votes are counted and that system is the cornerstone of our democracy.

There are rules in place to govern the advertising political parties use to influence the vote and that is influenced by whichever political party is holding office when the election is called.   The Conservative parties hold office in New South Wales and with a state election due this year they had passed a law restricting the union movement from spending $ 1.28 million on electioneering advertising in the six months before an election.   This legislation reduced that figure to just $500,000.

The problem was that unions support just one side of politics.  Their influence on the policies of the Australian Labor party is such that many union figures have gravitated to the status of endorsed candidate for the Labor party and now hold office as elected representatives in both the state and Federal governments.   The aims of the Labor party and the unions appear nearly synonymous.

This week, that legislation was struck down by the High Court.  In its judgement it ruled unanimously that the law breached  the implied freedom of political communication in the Constitution.  The unions are now free to combine their funds in a collective campaign which the smaller parties think may " drown out " the advertising message they can put to air.   This volume would seriously disadvantage independents.

There is another consideration that needs to be taken into account with union influence on the outcome of elections.  There is a close association between union leaders and the hierarchy of the Labor party which results in union leaders gaining endorsement for safe seats when they relinquish union office.

The rank and file of union membership covers a wide political spectrum.  Their funds collected by the union will be used to support a political party that they may not vote for when their exercise their choice within the voting booths.   In fact, the advertising the unions may be using to influence the vote may run diametrically opposite to the thinking of their personal opinions, but they are not asked for that opinion nor given any choice on how their funds are spent.

The unions justify this lack of choice by citing comparison with the big end of town.  The aims of major corporations usually mirror the policies of the Conservative parties and they do not shrink from making donations to assist those parties in winning office.   The wide spectrum of people working for those entities are not consulted about how those funds are directed.

As with all aspects of politics,  how the system works is an emotive issue.  We grizzle and grumble about the restrictions in place according to our political views but the outcome is usually decided by the thinking of individuals.   The vast majority put their pen to paper and express the choice that determines the outcome.

The common wisdom usually delivers the right choice at that time.