Real-time reporting of political donations a welcome reform, but must not let industry off the hook
Proposed laws that would require real-time disclosure of political donations would strengthen democracy, but amendments are needed to ensure they operate fairly, the Human Rights Law Centre said today.
This week Labor Senator Don Farrell introduced two proposed laws which together would require real-time disclosure of donations to candidates, political parties, associated entities and political campaigners, and require donations of $1,000 or more to be disclosed. Currently disclosure is only required of donations of $14,000 or more.
Alice Drury, Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, welcomed this first step to achieving greater transparency around the influence of big donors in Australian elections.
“Donors give big donations to politicians in order to influence their decisions. It’s outrageous that we don’t know when and from where politicians get their money until well after election day. Real-time disclosure of donations would significantly improve transparency of who is paying for politicians’ election campaigns.”
The Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Transparency Measures – Real Time Disclosure) Bill 2019 and the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Transparency Measures – Lowering the Disclosure Threshold) Bill 2019 impose real-time disclosure obligations of donations to “political campaigners” – entities such as unions, not-for-profits and industry groups that are not political parties but who incur more than $500,000 in electoral spending.
However, under the bills, real-time disclosure would only be required of donations, not of the membership fees and other corporate contributions made to industry groups. As a result the funding of industry groups’ electoral spending would escape the increased public scrutiny brought about by the bills.
Drury said that if the proposed laws were to require real-time disclosure of donations to charities, they should require the same of corporate contributions to industry groups running political campaigns.
“It is absurd that these bills could require real-time disclosure of donations to charities, but not require the same transparency for corporate contributions to industry groups like the Minerals Council of Australia and the Business Council of Australia. These industry groups are some of the biggest spenders in elections, and any laws that capture charities must also capture them.”
“Charities, which must act for the public benefit and are already prohibited by law from being party-political, should not be subject to greater regulation than profit-seeking industry groups and corporations.”
Federal Labor has recently shown support for measures that go beyond transparency over political donations, including limiting donations and election spending. Such reforms are vital to rebuilding Australians’ trust in our democratic system.
“Regulating money in politics is complex, and those in Parliament should consult closely with civil society to ensure changes do not have unintended, undemocratic consequences.”
Media contact:
Michelle Bennett, Communications Director, Human Rights Law Centre, 0419 100 519