Electoral Matters and Public Administration
Senator Andrew Murray has been an active voice for reform of Australia's electoral system for many years. He has fought for stronger laws on political donations to remove loopholes which permit the non-disclosure of large donations. He has campaigned to make political parties more open, accountable and democratic.
Senator Murray has introduced many Private Senator's Bills in relation to electoral matters, including:
- The Electoral (Greater Fairness of Electoral Processes) Amendment Bill 2007 that seeks to improve political governance,
political funding and disclosure rules and the integrity of the electoral process in general.
- the Constitutional Alteration (Electors' Initiative, Fixed Term Parliaments and Qualification of Members) Bill 2000 which seeks to establish a four-year fixed term parliament, to enable alteration of the Constitution at the initiative of the people as well as the Parliament, and to update archaic constitutional restrictions on public servant's running for political office;
- the State Elections (One Vote, One Value) Bill 2001 which seeks to enshrine the principle of one-vote one-value in law; and
- the Electoral Amendment (Political Honesty) Bill 2003 which requires truth in political advertising, applying similar standards that apply to commercial advertisers under the Trade Practice Act.
Senator Murray is a prominent advocate of an Australian Republic with a directly elected President. He is the editor of the foremost book on the topic, Trusting the People.
More information about the Australian Democrats electoral matters reform agenda is set out in Senator Murray's supplementary remarks to the JSCEM's Report on the Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2004 Federal Election and Matters Related Thereto.
Electoral Matters Documents
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