End secret donations now
When the ACT Government Electoral Legislation Amendment Bill is debated in May, Greens MLA Deb Foskey will seek support from Labor and Liberal MLAs to ensure voters know who is giving money to political parties before, rather than after, the election.
"I have amendments drafted to introduce the weekly reporting of donations received during an election period" Dr Foskey said today.
"And to bring the timeframe for annual reports forward from February to September so that the information in those reports is published by Elections ACT before the October election."
"There's been a lot of talk across Australia about putting a cap on donations, or even getting rid of them altogether. The Greens are keen to look at those ideas, but a reshape of electoral funding - if's really to strengthen democracy" - will take a few years and quite a lot of research."
"In the meantime we face an ACT election on October 18."
"My amendments would ensure that ACT voters would know who has made donations to political candidates and their parties in the lead up to this election."
"II would like to know if ACT Labor and Liberal parties will be supporting these amendments and, where they are unlikely to, what their concerns are."
"Voters across Australia are suspicious political donations and what impact they have, and there is a lot of talk about doing things differently. Making donations more transparent is a good first step" Dr Foskey said.
Dr 's amendments to the Electoral Legislation Amendment Bill would also:
- Require property developers to disclose recent political donations they have made every time they put in a development application.
- Make it easier for voters to tell who is responsible for brochures and advertisements
- Return to the 6 metre rule so that handing out how to vote advice at polling booths are the same as they are for federal elections
- Require the Electoral Commissioner to report on all complaints made regarding the conduct of an election.
The ACT Government and Opposition have had the Greens amendments and explanatory notes, and a letter from Dr Foskey seeking their support, for some weeks.
