Political donations: campaign for reform

RUNNING for Parliament is an expensive business.

Gone are the days when all a hopeful-politician needed was a megaphone and an army of doorknockers.

Candidates might still address rallies and pound the pavement but costly television advertisements, billboards and savvy social media strategies are now considered essential to getting their message out.

The question of where candidates get the money was highlighted last week when it emerged Labor Minister David O’Byrne received a $15,000 donation from the union he was head of at the time.

The state opposition suggested it was a Labor scandal and slipped in a few references to the Craig Thomson affair. But while the union may have a case to answer to its members, the lack of state-based disclosure laws left Mr O’Byrne without a mechanism to declare it even if he wanted to.

That appears likely to change before the next state election with a review of Tasmania’s electoral laws under way. Options on the table include capping spending, publicly funding elections and, perhaps most critically, requiring candidates to declare donations.

…

In response to a discussion paper, Labor’s Tasmanian branch submitted twice annual reporting should be required, rather than the annual disclosure that the Australian Electoral Commission demands of parties.

Read the rest in The Examiner here, including relevant political scientist Richard Herr comments …

• Public submissions on political donations are available at:
http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/corporateinfo/projects/tasmanian_parliamentary_elections_-_political_donations