Charities have won a reprieve from a restriction on implied freedom of communication after the High Court overturned a decision to cap campaign expenditure by half.
In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, the High Court ruled the relevant section of the New South Wales government’s Electoral Funding Act 2018 was invalid due to it being impeded by the implied freedom of communication protected by the constitution.
Justices Susan Kiefel, Virginia Bell and Patrick Keane said: “[The government] has not justified the burden on implied freedom of halving the cap….as necessary to prevent the drowning out of voices other than those of third-party campaigners.”
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