Statements
Wilkie moves on foreign donations …
… WHILE THE PARTIES JUST TALK ABOUT IT
The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, has unveiled a Private Member’s Bill that would ban foreign donations to political parties and candidates.
“I have this morning written to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten asking them to support a Private Member’s Bill that would ban foreign donations,” Mr Wilkie said.
“If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the last few days, it’s that the Australian people are sick and tired of big money from overseas buying influence in our political system.
“The Sam Dastyari episode was bizarre in itself. But it’s also symptomatic of a broader problem in our political culture.
“For too long the major parties have accepted millions of dollars in donations from foreign interests. This has got to change and if the parties won’t make the change themselves, then we need to change the law.
“Now is the ideal opportunity to act because there is apparently support right across the parliament for such a change.”
The Bill would make it unlawful for political parties and candidates to receive a donation from a foreign person, using the same definition as the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975. This includes any individual who is not ordinarily resident in Australia and any corporation in which a foreign person, corporation or government holds a substantial interest.
Download a draft of the Bill. Mr Wilkie intends to introduce the Bill to Parliament as soon as practicable.
Copies of Mr Wilkie’s letters to the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader can also be downloaded …
Wilkie_Commonwealth_Electoral_Amendment_(Foreign_Political_Donations)_Bill_2016.pdf
SKMBT_C55416090810211.pdf
Andrew Wilkie, Independent MP for Denison