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

I rise to second the motion moved by the member for Clark and I very much support his private member's bill to clean up political donations, the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Cleaning up Political Donations) Bill 2023. We now have a federal ICAC. Political donations must be the next thing we all do in this place to clean up the perception the Australian community has of us.

Just last week, several members of the crossbench asked the Minister for Communications, who has responsibility for regulating online gambling, whether her position remains tenable, after it became apparent, because of Sportsbet returns, that she had received cash donations of approximately $19,000 while she was in the opposition portfolio, shortly before the last election.

This bill would allow the Australian public to see, in real time, in two business days, who is bankrolling their elected representatives by making donations of more than $1,000. I would just like to stand here and say that I have made a commitment to my community that I will not receive any large donations—no donations over $1,000.

I often think that, in this place, many of us should actually stand here with jackets on—a bit like the motorsport people—that say who sponsors us, because the amount of money that flows in to members of parliament is extraordinary.

I really do commend the member for Clark for this bill. We need to do so much more in here.

With respect to capping political donations and expenditure on election campaigns, we already have that in South Australia. That does not thwart democracy. I actually think it makes our elections better. And we should do that at a federal level.

We actually have some of the most lax political donation laws in the world, and we need to use our time in this place, in this parliament, to clean up this place. It is for the benefit of all of us, and it's to improve our standing in the general Australian community, who have very little time and respect for us. So it's a great shame that we are not doing much in this space and we are already nine months in to this political term.

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