The three submissions that are already public warn of the potential for serious unintended consequences from the proposed changes, leading the Australia Institute to call for the remaining 21 submissions to be published.

On 27 September 2024, the Australia Institute wrote to Attorney-General Kyam Maher requesting that the remaining submissions be made public.

There has been no response from the Attorney-General.

Shortcomings to the proposed legislation identified by public submissions include that:

• It may entrench incumbents and make elections less competitive
• It would provide millions of dollars in windfall gains to parties and sitting MPs
• It would increase the relative power of vested interests at the expense of candidates contesting elections
• It could be an unconstitutional limit on freedom of speech in South Australia.

“The South Australian public and their parliament should be equipped with all the facts when making up their minds about the merits of the Malinauskas Government’s proposed major changes to electoral law,” said Bill Browne, Director of the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program.

“Far from increasing trust, the submissions that South Australians have been allowed to see warn that perverse outcomes from the Bill could further undermine confidence in government.

“Submissions to parliamentary inquiries are generally public and to ensure confidence in law-making the same should be the case for a government consultation.

“A secretive and exclusionary process like the one taking place in South Australia can only ever diminish trust in government, not improve it.”