Media release – Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, 1 February 2021
VOTERS LEFT IN THE DARK
NO DEMOCRACY WITH HIDDEN DONATIONS
Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, has called for urgent political donation reform as new analysis and data reveal the outrageous amount of dark money flowing to political parties in Australia.
The Centre for Public Integrity has found that hidden donors have given more than $1bn to Federal political parties over the past two decades. Data on political donations released today by the Australian Electoral Commission confirms the trend of dark money continues, with the source of many donations not disclosed.
“This dark money is a cancer on democracy,” Mr Wilkie said. “Frankly it’s no better than wads of cash in a brown paper bag.
“Moreover, it’s outrageous we have to wait so long to learn the source of donations, and that the disclosure threshold is so high we never learn where the majority of the money came from. This is a clarion call for donation reform.
“It’s likely this dark money has come from dodgy sources. Don’t forget Crown has donated almost $2m to the Liberal and Labor parties in the past decade.”
Mr Wilkie declares all donations of more than $1000 in real-time and does not accept money from alcohol, tobacco or gambling companies.
“The laws must be updated to require this of all candidates and parties,” Mr Wilkie said. “There should also be a cap on donations from individual donors and the recognition that a political donation is any expenditure that benefits a party, like the campaign we saw from the poker machine industry in Tasmania supporting the Tasmanian Liberals before last state election. We also need a prohibition on Federal parties accepting political donations from any donor banned by state legislation.”
Media release – Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Justice spokesperson, 1 February 2021
Political Donations More Secret Than Ever
Figures released today by the Australian Electoral Commission demonstrate the increasingly urgent need to reform Tasmania’s political donations laws.
Despite the community outrage following the corrupting influence of donations at the last state election, there has been no action on this issue from the Liberals since then.
This year the Liberals kept the source of $1.7 million dollars of their revenue secret – a whopping 92%. Instead of strengthening Tasmania’s democracy, they have hidden the source of more donations than ever.
Despite Labor’s calls for reform, their practices are in lock step with the Liberals – this year they only disclosed the source of a pitiful 6% of their donations. If Labor really are serious about this issue, they must start putting their money where their mouth is.
The Greens not only meet the AEC’s donations disclosure requirements, we also publicly list all donors who give more than $1,500 during a financial year on our website.
Around the world the corrupting influence of money in politics is weakening democracies, and as it stands Tasmania is no different. Voters should know who’s funding the political parties they vote for. Stronger political donations laws will help ensure government decisions are in the best interests of everyone, not just the rich and powerful.
The Greens will continue to push for political donations reform. In the meantime, we call on the Liberals and Labor to follow our lead and voluntarily release the details of their donors who contribute over $1,500.
