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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anne Twomey

Anne Twomey is a Professor Emerita of the University of Sydney.
POSTS BY Anne Twomey
19 February 2025

Why Australia’s Campaign Finance Reform is Likely to Face Constitutional Challenge

After decades of gridlock on campaign finance reform at the federal level in Australia, the major parties reached a deal to pass the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025 (Cth) on almost the last parliamentary sitting day before a forthcoming election. The new law will not take effect until after the election. It will lower the threshold for the disclosure of donations and ensure disclosures are published more quickly. It will also impose a cap on political donations and a cap on electoral expenditure. This all sounds like a great improvement for transparency and fairness in election campaigning. In theory, it is. So why and how could it be the subject of a successful constitutional challenge? Continue reading >>
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14 November 2023

A Frozen Constitution in a Sunburnt Country

Australia’s Constitution remains frozen, with the loss of a referendum on 14 October 2023. Only eight out of forty-five national referendums to amend the Constitution have succeeded, with no successful change since 1977. The 2023 referendum would have recognised Indigenous Australians in the national Constitution and provided a means, described as a ‘Voice’, for them to make representations to Parliament and the Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In this post, I will seek to give an overview of the reasons for the failure of the referendum, including the ‘No’ arguments, factors that contributed to the ‘No’ vote, and the demographics of the voting outcome. Continue reading >>
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