Federal Independent MP Zali Steggall is concerned about the effect of false claims on Australian democracy.
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RMIT FactLab debunked 38 false claims about the constitutional referendum this year.
"It's clear that the information people had access to through the course of the debate was often heavy with misleading and deceptive facts," she said.
"We have consumer laws that provide that ads must be fact based, must not be misleading or deceptive. We don't have that in relation to political advertising.
"This begs the question of whether we value our consumer rights more highly than our democratic rights," Ms Steggall said.
Ms Steggall has introduced federal legislation to prevent lies in political campaigns. The Stop the Lies Bill is based on truth in political advertising laws that have existed in SA since the 1980s.
Elements of this have since been rolled into federal independent MP Kate Chaney's Restoring Trust Bill, which was tabled in August.
The bill has in principle support from the Greens, but not the two major parties.
"[ALP senator] Don Farrell said he would act on this, but what we've heard is he's doing a deal on this with the coalition .... with a view of limiting the ability of the crossbench to grow and embedding the duopoly of the two major parties," Ms Steggall said.
"In light of the six months we've just had I think it would be incredibly short-sighted for the Labor party to do that.
"That's just saying they're putting their own interests ahead of the health of our democracy."
An interim report into the 2022 election recommended truth in political advertising laws, and significant reform to political donation rules.
Special minister of state Farrell said he would act on the report's recommendations when it is published later this year.
"We are proud of our democratic system and are committed to strengthening it," he said.
"We will consider all recommendations from the joint standing committee on electoral matters, including truth in political advertising and look forward to the final report later this year.
"Electoral reform should always be consultative and bipartisan," Mr Farrell said.
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Dan Holmes
Dan is a Journalist with the Daily Advertiser in Wagga, covering policy, politics and culture. He is the winner of 2022's Ossie award for domestic and family violence reporting. Tips and pitches to: dan.holmes@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Dan is a Journalist with the Daily Advertiser in Wagga, covering policy, politics and culture. He is the winner of 2022's Ossie award for domestic and family violence reporting. Tips and pitches to: dan.holmes@austcommunitymedia.com.au
