The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, will introduce a Private Member’s Bill that would ban foreign donations to political parties and candidates.
“This is a simple reform, a necessary reform and a popular reform,” Mr Wilkie said.
“What we’ve learned from the Sam Dastyari episode is that overwhelmingly the Australian people don’t want foreign interests wielding undue influence on our political process.
“It undermines confidence in our political system when campaigns are effectively paid for by big money coming in from overseas. So of course to allow it to continue is entirely at odds with the public interest and in some cases, where foreign governments are involved, it can be a serious threat to our national security.
“Over the last few weeks we’ve heard all sorts of talk from all sides of politics about why foreign donation reform is a good idea. So it’s time for the Government to put its money where its mouth is and get behind this Bill.
“The alternative is for the Dastyari episode to be just another example of politicians mouthing a whole lot of hollow nonsense to placate the community until the heat goes out of an issue.”
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Andrew Wilkie MP, Independent Member for Denison
