Opposition Leader Mark Latham could have gone one step further, but did not.
He said that if Labor won it would back-date legislation so that Government advertising that was really party political advertising would be charged to the political party, rather than letting the tax-payer pay.
Good. But he could have gone further in the clean-up of pre-election madness by taking up the proposition put by Democrats Leader Senator Andrew Bartlett. Bartlett suggested fixed parliamentary terms so that everyone knows the election date years in advance and can plan accordingly.
At present, the Prime Minister says he will rely on his gut instinct to determine the date of the election.
Meantime, a minor media frenzy came and went about August 7 as a possible date. Speculation was rife because the Government had passed its Budget and did what most governments do: went a spending spree to buy votes.
But the polls indicated that that ploy was not working, so August 7 was dropped.
Electoral law and the Constitution give the Government a huge range of possible dates – from the first Saturday in July to mid-April.
It gives the Government a great advantage. It can open the coffers – as this Government has done. It can spook the Opposition into releasing policies prematurely, as this Government and the one before it tried to do. It can take advantage of ephemeral rises in the polls. It can book advertising space and take other tactical advantages.
It was unfair when then Prime Minister Paul Keating taunted then Opposition Leader John Hewson with the threat of, “I’ll do you slowly.” It is unfair now as the Howard Government is choosing the election date according to one criterion only: tactical advantage to the Government. Convenience for business, political staff, the public service and voters is ignored.
Normally, Latham is quick to jump on something “anti-politician” that might have popular appeal. Politicians’ superannuation, ending the ministerial staff “dirt” teams and making political parties pay for government “advertising” are good examples. But he has not embraced fixed terms. The reason is because political leaders have two aims: to get power and to keep it. Anything that stands in the way will not be countenanced.
Latham as Leader of the Opposition would not surrender a critical weapon that could be used by Latham as Prime Minister.
But there is no good reason why the Prime Minister of the day should have the advantage of being able to determine the election date to the manifest inconvenience of everyone else.
It is a British tradition. The British political system is not based on the sovereignty of the people, but on the sovereignty of Parliament, bestowed by the Crown. In Britain the Parliament can extend its own term indefinitely and no court could stop it. In fact, it did just that during World War II.
The Australian Constitution inherited that flawed part of the British system, though tempered it by saying an election must be called anytime within the three years from the first sitting of the previous Parliament. On the other hand, it adopted the US system of having fixed terms for senators. An Australian senator’s term runs from July 1 after the election and senators must be elected sometime in the 12 months before the beginning of the term.
The combination of those two hands the Prime Minister an election window. In the present case, senators beginning their term on July 1, 2005, must be elected at an election after July 1, 2004. And an election for the House of Representatives which first met after the 2001 election in February, 2002, must be called by February, 2005. Allowing for nominations and the campaign, the actual date of the election could be stretched to mid-April. It is a big, and unnecessary, window of Prime Ministerial convenience.
It could be changed by legislation (and maybe later by constitutional change). At present, the Electoral Act demands the election be held on a Saturday. There is no reason why it could not stipulate which Saturday – say, the last Saturday in November (every three years) so a new government would have the summer holiday in which to settle in.
There would still be some difficulty with the Senate and double dissolutions – the bane of Australian constitutional discord. One of the difficulties is that Section 13 of the Constitution insists that immediately after a double dissolution senators’ terms are back-dated to the previous July. It means the next half-Senate election must be somewhat less than three years later. That usually truncates the House of Representatives term because most Prime Ministers prefer simultaneous elections, though they are not required.
Still, even with a double dissolution the subsequent terms could be fixed by legislation. Incidentally, the six-year term of senators makes it hard to have a four-year House of Representatives term. It would result in eight-year terms for senators.
It would be better if all federal, state and local elections were held on one day. Voters are smart enough to differentiate between the levels and could happily vote for one party at state level and a different one a federal level if they thought the performance of the parties warranted it.
Everyone, especially the Electoral Commission, would know and could plan accordingly. MPs would know whether the present session would be the last before the election. At present retiring MPs do not know when to clean out their Canberra desks. We do not know when the caretaker period begins. It should begin at the end of the last parliamentary sitting before the election. The teasing misuse of power by the Prime Minister and Premiers for their own advantage should be abolished.
Oddly enough, the Electoral Act prohibits state or local elections or referendums on federal Election Day – unless the Prime Minister allows it.
In the ACT we have fixed terms. As a result, everyone knows where they stand. The election is on the third Saturday in October every four years.
Ironically, one of the few things that can prevent it is if the Prime Minister happens to decide to hold the (unfixed) federal election that day. If that happened the ACT election would be postponed till the first Saturday in December.
Well, the Prime Minister knows the ACT election is on October 23 this year. It would be completely bloody-minded for him to call his election for that date and inconvenience the ACT when the date of our election has been known for years.