After passing the House of Assembly with Labor and independents’ support late last year, the Greens bill to lower the donations disclosure threshold and require monthly reporting will be debated by the Legislative Council on Tuesday.
It’s a chance to clean up Tasmanian politics and reduce the corrosive, corrupting influence of big business on the major parties. For too long, the Liberals and Labor have been able to rake in massive donations and keep them secret from the public.
In the past five years alone, the two compromised old parties kept the source of $18 million in donations hidden from Tasmanians. According to the AEC, the Liberals disclosed just 12% of donations, with $13 million worth of donations remaining secret. Labor is no better – disclosing just 9% of donations and leaving $5 million unaccounted for.
What favours, access, policy or legislative changes have these millions bought? No accountability for multinational salmon corporations who are polluting our rivers and inshore waters, while dead, diseased salmon in their hundreds of thousands wash up on our bays and beaches?
The Liberals’ ditching of harm minimisation measures for the pokies barons within a few months of being re-elected in minority last year? Special legislation for a shopping centre development like the Tipolea shopping centre legislation last year?
Political donations’ secrecy is toxic to democracy, and results in worse outcomes for the Tasmanian people and environment. It undermines Tasmanians’ trust in their political representatives.
Keeping donations secret from the public benefits the major parties. That’s why the Liberals have deliberately kept Tasmania’s donations laws weak. Their changes to donations laws which come into effect this July will still leave us with the second highest donations disclosure threshold in the country at $5000.
It’s why the Greens are progressing our bill to make political donations more transparent through the Legislative Council at the first opportunity this week. Our bill will lower the donation disclosure threshold to $1000 and ensure donations are disclosed monthly.
This bill seeks to put the Tasmanian people back at the heart of our democracy, where they should be. I hope that my Legislative Council colleagues will support it and help to clean up Tasmanian politics.
