Tasmanian Labor have yet again outdone the Liberals in covering up the source of political donations they’ve received. Labor disclosed less than 2% of their income in the last reporting year.
Aside from ATO returns, the Liberals received $2.4 million in 2022/23, but only disclosed $470,394. That means Tasmanians know the source of just 20% of their income.
Meanwhile, Labor received $1 million, but disclosed just one donation of $16,000 from the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. A massive 98.4% of Labor’s income is hidden from Tasmanians.
Labor’s track record on transparency is even worse than the shocking low of the Liberals. It’s not surprising then that Labor backed in the Liberals, voting to ensure new political donation laws would remain the weakest in the nation.
There should be strong limits on who can donate to political parties, but at a bare minimum people deserve to know exactly who is pouring millions of dollars into the coffers of all politicians.
Instead of reporting donations year-round, which the Greens do on our website, both major parties treat the community with contempt. Tasmanians deserve to know which companies and individuals are influencing the decisions of both major parties.
Many people will ask the obvious question – what do the Liberals and Labor have to hide?
