The major political parties have teamed up in an effort to shut down the rapid growth in micro parties winning Senate spots, saying the current voting system is "intimidating", "baffling" and like playing the brainteaser Sudoku.

The Labor Party and Liberal-National Coalition, who are at loggerheads on various public policy issues, are on a unity ticket when it comes to stamping out the rise of micro political parties.

They all want the requirements for registering new political parties toughened, including higher registration fees and a greater number of initial party members, and the Senate voting system overhauled and simplified.

Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has heard from the heads of the major parties' administrative arms at an inquiry in Canberra.

The governing Liberal Party's federal director, Brian Loughnane, says the current system of voting above the line or individually nominating candidates - which can number more than 100 - below the line needs changing.

"The current electoral arrangements have loopholes which are being exploited to distort the intent of Australian voters through complex and hidden preference deals, some of which have also included potential commercial gain for individuals," Mr Loughnane said.

He says a party's preferences should only be distributed if they exceed more than 1 per cent of the primary vote.

ALP national secretary George Wright has also hit out at the micro parties who benefit from the practice of "preference harvesting", which he says is made possible by the explosion in Senate candidates.

Calls to stop 'opportunists' playing the system

Labor, the Liberals and Nationals all say it should be made more difficult for people to register new political parties to stop "opportunists" gaming the system.

They say the requirement for new members should be increased from 500 to 2,000.

The Nationals say the Senate ballot paper, which Labor noted had so many candidates it reached one metre in length, was "intimidating" voters, stopping many from voting below the line.

Mr Wright has compared the difficulty in navigating the Senate ballot paper to the mathematical brainteaser game Sudoku.

"It's not what the founding fathers had in mind is it?" asked Liberal MP and committee chair Tony Smith referring to the metre-long ballot papers.

"Voting has to be practical ... it's [currently] like Sudoku," Mr Wright replied in agreement.

"It shouldn't be made so complex that the average voter is completely baffled by it," said Mr Loughnane, who wants to abolish the group voting tickets and introduce optional preferential voting above the line.

The Nationals' federal director, Scott Mitchell, says the current system is failing voters because it lacks transparency.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 29 seconds 3 m 29 s Major parties to crack down on micro-party Senate deals ( James Glenday ) Download 1.6 MB

"We think that below-the-line voting has become ultimately intimidating, so no-one does it and we think there isn't enough transparency around where people's preferences ultimately flow," he said.

Mr Loughnane also wants new parties prevented from using names similar to the major parties.

He says it is clear New South Wales senator-elect and Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm received votes from people who intended to vote Liberal.

Victorian DLP senator John Madigan says the major parties are only changing the rules because they no longer suit them.

"The rules, the electoral laws as they now stand, were brought in by the major parties," he said.

"When it goes their way it's all well and good, but when it's somebody else that gets a seat at the table it's a travesty."

Senator Madigan says while changes do need to be made, the push is not in the interests of democracy.