Will the Albanese Government embed a dark money duopoly or retore trust with Australians? (1 Feb 2024)
I wrote this opinion article to coincide with the annual February 1st financial disclosure deadline for political entities:
Today, political parties will publish their Annual Returns, where we supposedly see where the money comes from. But behind this charade of transparency lies the 'dark money' (or hidden donations) which has been the life blood of federal political funding for decades.
Over the last 20 years, only 21% of the major parties' private funding has been through disclosed donations, leaving the community in the dark about where most of their funds come from.
How on earth do they get away with it? Quite simply, it’s through a complicated and entrenched system of rorts. You may already know about the 'cash for access' dinners, which are largely invisible. Party-affiliated entities and large consulting firms arrange paid events such as 'business forums', ‘communications roundtables' or 'briefings' to funnel significant funds to political parties with no disclosure. There are overblown membership fees that benefit a political party or candidate. Multiple entities are used within a party structure to split donations below the threshold of $16,300 and again avoid disclosure. The Liberal and National parties lead the way with more than 60 entities – $1 million could be donated without disclosure if it’s split carefully.
Both major parties are active participants in the worst aspects of this flawed electoral funding regime.
Ahead of the last federal election, Sportsbet hosted a lavish dinner and made a cash donation (with a combined value of $19,000) to the then Shadow Communications Minister, Michelle Rowland. Now Communications Minister, she is a key decision-maker on gambling reform policies – which, you guessed it – affect Sportsbet. The way our system works, these donations were only visible more than eight months later, and after Australians had already voted.
An ABC investigation last year revealed that in 2021 Gina Rinehart's company, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd, was behind a $150,000 payment to the Liberal Party, transferred via the Sydney Mining Club and not declared by Hancock Prospecting before the deadline. The chain of payment involved a “sponsorship” of the Sydney Mining Club and then a “membership” to a business forum run by the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party ultimately declared $144,000 under the opaque disclosure category of “other receipts”.
The community is fed up with these rorts and there is overwhelming support for genuine transparency reform, ending the 'dark arts' of federal political funding.
When it comes to democratic reform, it is increasingly up to the independent crossbench to create the pressure for change. Helen Haines, the Independent Member for Indi, advocated relentlessly for an Integrity Commission with teeth, which paved the way for the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Encouraged by this, last August I introduced my 'Restoring Trust' Private Members Bill to the House of Representatives, after collaborating with the crossbench, civil society and independent think tanks. It proposes 13 reforms based on three pillars: improving transparency, reducing financial influence and levelling the playing field.
The Bill outlines a raft of transparency reforms that would be implemented, such as fixing the donation definition to capture 'cash for access' dinners, 'business forums’ and other rorts, lowering the donation disclosure threshold to $1,000 from its current $16,300, and requiring disclosure within a week. It would also legislate truth in political advertising in terms of Zali Steggall's 'Stop the Lies' Private Members Bill.
The reforms to reduce financial influence include banning donations from government contractors, and member and shareholder approval being required for union and corporate donations.
Reforms to level the playing field include limiting government advertisements before elections to avoid its abuse, preventing postal voting applications being used for data harvesting and misleading voters, and ensuring electoral roll access and financial deadlines are the same for independent candidates as for parties.
The Labor government has made clear it intends to introduce electoral reform legislation in the first half of this year.
It has two choices…
It can work with the crossbench in both the House of Reps and Senate to meet community expectations and bring about genuine reform, and in doing so restore trust in our system.
Or it can do a deal with the Liberal-National Party under a ‘transparency-lite’ package, which will further embed the political duopoly and discourage challengers from outside the party system.
As we see trust declining in democracies across the world, it is crucial that Australians feel they get to choose their representatives from a full field. It has also never been more important to make sure decisions are being made in the interests of the many, not the few.
Kate Chaney MP
Federal Member for Curtin
