Australians Strongly Oppose Public Funding of Political Parties

Three in five Australians oppose public funding of political parties and candidates while 27 percent support it, found a recent survey on political funding. This opposition spans across voters from all political affiliations, reflecting a broad national consensus against using taxpayer money to fund election campaigns. Graham Young, Executive Director of the Australian Institute for Progress, interprets this resistance as a belief that “political parties should earn their way, not be propped up by taxpayer dollars.” “Public funding tends to favor the status quo parties, who have the infrastructure and knowledge to navigate the system, while it disconnects parties from their supporters,” he told The Epoch Times....