Economy
Tobacco money poisons politics
In the lead up to World No Tobacco Day tomorrow (today, Thurs), The Tasmanian Greens have unveiled a new advertisement aimed at increasing public pressure on the Hodgman Liberal Party to end their reliance on tobacco company donations.
Greens Health spokesperson Paul O’Halloran MP urged Liberal Leader Will Hodgman to use World No Tobacco Day on Thursday to announce that his party would cut its ties to the tobacco industry.
“The Liberal Party is the only party in Tasmania that still accepts money from tobacco companies,” Mr O’Halloran said.
“To their credit, Labor decided some years ago that they would no longer take money from tobacco companies, but the Liberals are lagging well behind as they have done with so many necessary social reforms.”
“The most recent round of political donations disclosures revealed that the Liberals took $22,000 from British American Tobacco and $15,900 from Phillip Morris in 2010-11.”
“The actual figure could be far higher, because our current political donation laws contain loopholes which mean parties are not required to provide a complete or up-to-date picture of the donations they receive.”
“This is not an act of charity by these companies, it is a calculated decision designed to buy political influence and maximise profits. This money never comes without expectations.”
“This might explain the Liberals’ stance when they voted last year against a Greens motion that would have banned state tobacco company donations, as New South Wales has already done.”
“As the only state party still accepting tobacco company political donations, the Liberals can start to rebuild their some of their credibility by using World No Tobacco Day to cut their financial ties to the tobacco industy,” Mr O’Halloran said.
• PROGRESS NEEDED ON TOBACCO DONATIONS BAN
Time to Turn off Liberals’ Big Tobacco Money Tap
Kim Booth MP
Greens Justice and Attorney General Spokesperson
Thursday, 31 May 2012
The Tasmanian Greens today urged of the Attorney General, Brian Wightman, to prioritise a ban on state political donations from tobacco companies.
During Budget Estimates today, Greens Attorney General and Justice spokesperson Kim Booth MP called on the Minister to commit to introducing the promised legislation to ban Big Tobacco donations into the State Parliament this year.
“The undertaking to introduce a state ban on Big Tobacco donations was supported in Parliament in response to a Greens Motion in September last year, and while we are pleased to learn that the legislation has been through Cabinet, it needs to go before the Parliament this year,” Mr Booth said.
“Whilst we agree with Mr Wightman exposing the hypocrisy of the Liberals for their continued acceptance of donations from tobacco companies, it’s within the Minister’s power to do something about this disgrace immediately when Parliament resumes.”
“The public don’t want grand-standing, they want action, and today World No Tobacco Day was the perfect opportunity for Minister Wightman to state when we could be expecting to debate this promised legislation.”
“If it is good enough for New South Wales to ban political donations from Big Tobacco, then Tasmanians deserve the same leadership from their politicians.”
“It’s hardly a surprise that the Liberals did not support banning donations from the tobacco industry when the Parliament voted on it last year, given that they received nearly $40,000 dollars from Phillip Morris and British American Tobacco last year.”
Mr Booth said the Greens were also disappointed at the Minister’s refusal to commit to a timeframe for the broader state-based donations reform process, the public submissions process for which closed last month.
“In 2010, the state’s three party leaders signed up to an Agreement for Parliamentary Reform, to restore the number of Tasmanian MPs back to 35, which also included a commitment to reform the political donations regime.”
“The Greens believe the disclosure threshold, increased by both federal Labor and Liberal parties, needs to be reduced immediately, while further work is done to progress proper disclosure of political donations.
AS BACKGROUND: The Greens’ position on donations reform:
1. Tasmania needs its own political donations laws, just as most other states and territories already have.
2. A cap on the amount that can be donated.
3. A ban on political donations from harmful vested interests such as tobacco companies, pokies companies etc.
4. Real time donation disclosure online, to allow Tasmania voters know who is making donations when they are made, not two years after it happens.