Media release – Ella Haddad MP, Shadow Attorney-General, 13 July 2020
Labor has taken action to clean up Tasmania’s political donations laws.
Shadow Attorney-General and Labor Member for Clark Ella Haddad said Tasmania has the weakest laws in the country.
“The bar is very low, and results in a perception that money buys influence in Tasmania.
“Candidates for House of Assembly elections are under no obligation to declare any donations they receive or any of their campaign spending, nor are there any limits on the amount of money that can be donated or spent.
“This leads to an uneven playing field and can lead to outcomes where candidates are elected because they have the deepest pockets.”
Ms Haddad said despite a promise after the last election to reform Tasmania’s laws, the Liberals have done nothing but make administrative tweaks to the Electoral Act.
“What people most want action on is real-time disclosure of donations, lowering the threshold for disclosure and requiring individual candidates to disclose the source of their donations.
“People want to know who donates money to the candidates they are voting for.
“One of Peter Gutwein’s first acts as Premier was to walk away from the reform the government had promised.
“It’s unsurprising the Liberals have not rushed to clean up these lax laws, as they have benefited from them for years. Where the Premier has failed to act, we will ask the Parliament to do so.
“The Labor party has written our own draft Bill to fix these laws, and the Bill has been released for public comment.
“Labor’s Bill would require political parties, individual MPs and candidates to declare any donations they receive up to $1000 or cumulative donations up to $1000, every 30 days. It would also introduce spending caps for House of Assembly candidates, like those that already apply to candidates for Legislative Council and local government elections.
“Labor wants to see a level playing field for elections. Elections must be a battle of ideas, not a battle of bank accounts.”
Media release – Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens Leader, 13 July 2020
Labor’s Donations Reform Won’t Take Dirty Money Out of Politics
It’s good to see Labor come to the party on the urgent need for electoral donations law reform in Tasmania. It’s a pity, however, that they stopped at the door.
While there are some good provisions within their Bill, the omission of a cap on donations from individuals and a ban on donations from corporate interests, including foreign donations, significantly weakens Labor’s Bill.
Removing the money from vested interests has to be central to meaningful electoral donations reform.
Perhaps Labor is hoping the Farrell family will be feeling more generous towards them at the next State Election, after their backflip on removing pokies from pubs and clubs?
Labor’s draft Bill also fails to deliver real time donations disclosure. It contains a provision for a 30 day donations disclosure timeframe.
30 days is about your average campaign length. If Labor is serious about making sure voters knew who is giving how much to which political party, they would have drafted legislation with 7-14 day donation disclosure thresholds.
It has been 15 months since submissions closed for the government’s Electoral Act Review Interim Report. A final report was due in 2019.
The heel-dragging on reform, from a political party that allowed itself to be bankrolled by the gambling industry in 2018, is noted.
The Liberals embarked on their review process to quieten public debate after their pokies-flushed election win. While it’s regrettable the review has stalled, it is of much larger concern that the review has been designed from the outset to maintain the status quo.
The Gutwein Government can’t use the COVID-19 recovery as an excuse to avoid dealing with donations reform. It’s possible to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Tasmania has the weakest donation laws in the country. We are the only State without a State-based legislative framework for donations.
We need donation and expenditure caps, bans on corporate donations and donations from foreign interests, and public funding for election campaigns.
The Greens have an oxygen clear and consistent policy on political donations. Unlike Labor and the Liberals, we don’t take corporate donations and we disclose personal donations over $1,500 in real time.
The Greens’ position on electoral reform is outlined in our submission to the review and addendum covering constitutional issues.
TASMANIAN TIMES: Election Funding Reform: It’s Time.
