Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

The government opposes these amendments. It was the great Labor prime minister Bob Hawke who first introduced a funding and disclosure scheme into federal elections in Australia in the 1980s with a $1,000 threshold. Regrettably, under former prime minister John Howard, the Liberal government increased the threshold to $10,000 and indexed that figure, causing it to blow out. Think about this—every member of the House should think about this—the current disclosure threshold is $15,200.

The Labor Party has been pursuing donation reform for years, including from opposition, when we introduced legislation to reduce the donation threshold to a fixed $1,000. The Special Minister of State, Senator Farrell, has already asked the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters to consider and report back on the proposal of a fixed $1,000 threshold for elections. Any such change would then be replicated in the context of a future referendum under the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act. However, pursuing such a proposal now would not be practical or sensible. We do not wish to add any additional or unanticipated administrative challenges or confusion in the months immediately preceding a referendum. That's why we're opposing this amendment, although the government looks forward to working with the Greens party and others on its electoral reform agenda.

See this speech in context