Strengthening Democracy in the ACT
Grassroots democracy is as important to the Greens as social justice and environmental sustainability.
But right now, people are up to their necks in consultations, giving feedback to the government and submitting ideas to the void, without any real power to make decisions.
The Greens want Canberra to be a city for all of us.
That means empowering more Canberrans to participate in our democracy, sharing ideas and understanding to shape the community we all call home.
JUMP TO: More People Voting in Canberra | Budget Power to the People | Tighter Donations Laws
MORE PEOPLE VOTING IN CANBERRA
Unlike the old parties, the Greens don’t shy away from the needs of young people, or of the myriad multicultural communities who have found new homes in Canberra.
That’s why we want to give more Canberrans a say in ACT elections. That includes 16- and 17-year olds, who our society already empowers to enter into contracts and make medical decisions. It also includes permanent residents, who are no less Canberrans than others who were born with citizenship.
We will all live with the consequences of the decisions our parliament makes on climate change, public transport and healthcare. Everyone is affected by how the government deals with our cost-of-living and housing affordability crisis. And everyone deserves to be able to pass judgement at the ballot box.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Lower the voting age to 16
- Give voting rights to permanent residents
- Uphold the principle of compulsory voting
- Ensure appropriate community education about new voting rights and responsibilities
Budget Power to the People
The Greens recognise that people are the experts in their own lived experiences.
Under the Greens plan, every suburb will receive a budget, relative to its size, for use on whatever the local residents would like.
This can include local projects, initiatives, facilities, activities, services, events, or other things for the benefit of the suburb, in accordance with the suburb’s wishes.
This will be in addition to the normal suburban upkeep activities like maintaining footpaths and mowing public parklands.
It’s also on top of any other bigger projects the government may commit to for the district or city as a whole.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Invest in our suburbs, by allocating $40M for suburb-level projects over two rounds of funding during the next term of government
- Empower residents to make the decisions on how this money is spent in their suburb
- Enable the volunteer-run district community councils to focus on community consultation rather than administration by providing them with a government secretariat and support services
- Convene a citizen’s jury to consider further community council reforms, so they can have greater capacity to lead the suburb-level decision-making.
Tighter Donations Laws
The ACT Greens believe that grassroots democracy is central to a strong, transparent political system.
We want to ensure politicians are motivated by a desire to get good outcomes for the people and planet, and are not unduly influenced by harmful industries.
The harms that come from the fossil fuel industry, the tobacco industry and the gambling industry are well known. We also know those industries have a vested interest when it comes to political donations.
That’s why the ACT Greens will keep big money out of politics and ban donations from these harmful industries, and limit how much anyone can give to a political party
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Reinstate the $10,000 cap on donations to political parties
- Expand the scope of ‘prohibited donors’ to include fossil fuel companies, the nicotine industry and gambling licencees
- Match or exceed Commonwealth reforms as they arise
- Invest in our suburbs, by allocating $40M for suburb-level projects over two rounds of funding during the next term of government