Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Deputy Speaker. I said in March 2006:

To make matters even worse, the Liberal Party also plans to deliver a huge tax break for campaign donors, lifting the amount that can be claimed as a tax deduction from $100 to $5,000. Why should someone get a tax break for donating to a political party?

So I said it very clearly back then: you should not get a tax break for donating to a political party. As I said:

Tax deductibility for political donations should be abolished, not increased. … it is naked, shameless self-interest—the Liberal Party putting its own political advantage ahead of the national interest and a clean, corruption-free political system.

That was in the debate in March 2006. The then Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Kim Beazley, in October 2006 announced the Labor policy to abolish tax deductibility. That was reconfirmed by the shadow minister for finance as part of an election commitment in March 2007. It appeared in Labor’s national conference decisions and announcements. So we have been very clear about this. We have been on the record all the way through as saying we oppose the tax deductibility.

The member for Cook says the problem is the need for so much money to fund election campaigns. And he is right about that; that is quite true—it is a problem. We are acting here to reduce the amount of money available for spending on election campaigns, and the member for Cook is opposing that. That is regrettable. The member for Cook and the member for Stirling claim to be supporting campaign finance reform but their actions speak louder than words.

Australia has an A-grade democracy. We should give thanks every day of our lives that we live here. But that does not mean that it is perfect. We should not be complacent; we can do better. We should safeguard our democracy against attack. I believe that the previous legislation was corrosive of our democracy. What we are doing here to restore transparency and accountability is absolutely right and it ought to be supported by members opposite.

Debate (on motion by Ms Roxon) adjourned.

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