In the state of Queensland, Australia Candidates are required to use the ECQ’s Electronic Disclosure System (EDS) to disclose:
- Gifts and loans of $500 or more – including cumulative amounts that total $500 or more from a single donor
- All electoral expenditure – once the total amount spent reaches $500 or more.
The process:
- Most of the information in a disclosure return is accessible by the public.
- Generally, disclosure returns must be lodged within 7 business days of the electoral expenditure being incurred, or gift or loan being received. This is known as real-time disclosure.
- In the last 7 business days before election day, disclosures of electoral expenditure made and gifts or loans received must be lodged within 24 hours.
- After an election, candidates must disclose the total value of all electoral expenditure as well as gifts and loans they received.
The advantages of real-time disclosure are obvious. It enhances public transparency, so that voters can see who is funding candidates and parties before they cast their vote. It improves accountability by making donation data public. It discourages ‘quid pro quo’ arrangements (e.g. pre-election deals agreed between political parties and donors in order to get policy through after the election). It allows for immediate scrutiny of potential conflicts of interest.
These lead to fairer elections. Let’s apply real time disclosure to New Zealand’s elections.
