Responding to recent changes of election donation laws, a group of leading businesswomen and philanthropists have created a fund to get more female independents elected to parliament.
The Vida Fund, named after the iconic Australian suffragist Vida Goldstein, has $100,000 worth of donations and commitments from around the country to support the next generation of female crossbenchers with strong gender equity policies, including Bradfield candidate Nicolette Boele and McPherson’s Erchana Murray-Bartlett.
The federal election is set to be scheduled for May this year, with polls showing a close race between Labor and the Coalition, and the likelihood of a minority government.
Last month, both major parties struck a controversial deal, voting together to pass legislation that changes electoral funding laws, which will take effect in 2028. Under the changes, the maximum amount an individual donor can give to a candidate or political party will be $50,000 and the threshold above which donations must be disclosed will be $5,000.
Many independent politicians criticised the legislation, saying it disadvantages new contenders and entrenches the two-party system, while increasing the public money major parties can use to win votes.
There are currently 13 independents in the House of Representatives, including Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall Kate Chaney, Monique Ryan, Zoe Daniel, Sophie Scamps and Kylea Tink.
The new legislation spurred the Vida Fund’s creation, which aims to support independent candidates who have a chance of dislodging a major party MP.
“Australia is at a critical juncture in terms of gender equity,” the Vida Fund says. “Increasing rates of gender-based violence and misogynistic hate speech threaten the progress we’ve made in creating a safe and fair society for all.”
“The major political parties are not prioritising gender issues and, and women continue to be under-represented in federal parliament despite strong voter support for women candidates.”
Dedicated to “correcting this imbalance”, the group of businesswomen and philanthropists involved in the Vida Fund’s advisory council include company director and activist Wendy McCarthy, Cheek Media chief executive Hannah Ferguson, climate campaigner Anjali Sharma, theatre and film producer Jo Dyer and Professor Clare Wright OAM.
McCarthy tells the AFR that the Vida Fund is “a contemporary view of what the Women’s Electoral Lobby did in the ’70s, trying to find a place where women have leverage in their causes and in the institutions of power.”
“Originally, it would have been in the church and the education system or the health system. But we’ve recognised for a long time that no matter what we do off-Broadway, Broadway is still Parliament House.”
Ferguson sums it up as well, calling the aim of the Vida Fund “simple”, as its goal is “to strengthen the cross-bench, demand more from the major parties and empower candidates running on strong gender-equity platforms”.