Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I won't take up much of the House's time with respect to the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill. While I think every person in this House believes that electoral funding reform is important, it's fair to say that we've had very slow movement in this place with respect to electoral reform. Now we know that political campaigners will now need to register to disclose their donations, it's disappointing that Labor did not pursue a thousand dollar donation limit for all donors, not just foreign donors. I note that in the other place they got cold feet and moved a second reading amendment instead. Let's face it: that was tokenistic and a meaningless gesture.

It's important to remember that if we want to restore the faith of the Australian people we can do that in no easier way than through donation reform. Personally, I would like to see something closer to Canada's model. I think that politics has become about big business. It has become about big money and less about grassroots movement and grassroots representation. So, for a future parliament, or perhaps even this parliament, I would like to see that we have real and meaningful reform with respect to political donations.

We should have real-time disclosure. We should also have, I believe, a limit of no more than $1,000 being donated by man, woman, child or, indeed, corporation. I think there's a sense out in the community that if you donate a couple of thousand dollars to a candidate or a political party it is a gesture. However, when a organisation or individual donates $100,000—or more than that—one has to question the motives for donating that much. I believe we need to question whether people in this place make decisions based on the donations that they receive and the vested interests that they are.

I will be moving some amendments. These are amendments that were moved in the Senate, and I would hope that the opposition in particular would look at these amendments again. These amendments require the disclosure of gifts and loans that exceed the disclosure threshold to be delivered each calendar month. We need to be sharing this. The value of the gift and loan and the identity of the person who provides the gift and loan must be disclosed, and those disclosures must be made within 10 days after the end of the calendar month. As I said, the disclosure threshold at the moment, which is more than $13,000, is too high. That really means, effectively, a family of five can donate the best part of $50,000 and nobody knows—nobody has any idea of the money flowing, particularly into the major political parties.

In closing, I think we can do a lot more if we want to gain the trust of the Australian community. We need to get money out of politics. I look forward to a time when members from both of the major political parties actually take this issue seriously and we address real funding reform for political parties.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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