The federal election is just around the corner, and politicians—and their contenders—are busy scrambling for your attention and your vote.

This year, the biggest issue on the table is the cost of living crisis and what policy solutions the parties have to offer. Our position is clear: the solutions must start with reforming the tax system. We urge voters to support any candidate who commits to pursuing tax reform in the next term of parliament.

Sadly, the two major parties continue to shy away from showing strong leadership on this issue. In contrast, many minor parties have stepped up. That means it will be up to voters to deliver a parliament and senate willing to rise to the challenge.

So, what does that mean for your vote?

Prosper Australia has done some of the hard work for you. We analysed the economic, housing, and democracy policies of the parties contesting this election and gave each a score.

UPDATE 28 APRIL: A couple of parties have contacted us to correct their policy positions and the scorecard has been updated accordingly. 

These scores reflect only the policies relevant to our mission—they don’t account for other positions each party may hold. So we strongly recommend visiting party websites to make sure they align with your values more broadly.

This election is also seeing a record number of independent candidates putting their hands up. While we haven’t included independents in our analysis, we encourage you to check out who’s running in your electorate and see where they stand on the reforms we advocate for. The strength of the crossbench will be a key factor in the potential for meaningful change next term.

If you’re still unsure how to put together your vote, we recommend using the excellent tool Build a Ballot, which asks you a series of questions and then helps create a how-to-vote card tailored to your electorate.

Now, the only decision left is where to find the best local democracy sausage.

Prosper Australia supports a tax shift from taxes on effort, entrepreneurship and earnings to taxes on resources, rents and riches.

To read more about how to level out the playing field and make our society more fair for current and future generations visit our Tax Shift campaign page.