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

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I have often raised concerns in this place regarding the weakness of Australia's federal donation laws.

Last year, the OECD reported that trust in government in Australia is at an all-time low, which we know makes it harder for governments to implement policy.

Under existing regulations, Australians had to wait nine months after they'd voted in the last federal election to be able to 'follow the money' from donors to candidates, due to our lax political donation reporting requirements.

This meant, for example, that voters did not learn before the election that the Minister for Communications, with responsibility for online gambling, received cash donations of around $19,000 while she held the shadow portfolio, shortly before the 2022 federal election.

Australians are required to vote in elections without having up-to-date information regarding the candidates' backers.

This compares with most Australian jurisdictions having introduced real-time political donation reporting within seven days of receipt of large donations.

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters inquiry into the 2022 federal electioninterim report indicates that most submissions are supportive of a real-time disclosure framework.

In its submission, the Australia Institute called for increasing transparency around the funding of parties and candidates, so that Australians can make more informed choices.

And the Australian Electoral Commission acknowledged the time lag of up to 18 months.

We would all remember when the former member for Wentworth made a very sizeable donation to his political party just before the election in 2016, and because that donation was made, I think, a day or two into the new financial year, none of us were aware of how much that was not until the following February but the February after. That is really lax, and we need to do better.

The bill will require candidates and political parties to advise the Electoral Commission within five business days of receipt of any gifts which exceed the disclosure threshold for the financial year. This will also apply to campaigners if any part of the gift or gifts is used for certain electoral purposes by the campaigner.

I'm sure you would remember in 2019 I introduced these bills, way back then, and they went to a committee. It was a then government committee, who are now in opposition, and they did not support this. However, I was really pleased that there was a dissenting report. To quote from the dissenting report, it said:

It was Labor who, under Bob Hawke, introduced the first donations disclosure scheme in 1983, with a disclosure threshold of $1,000. The Liberals and Nationals, under John Howard, changed the rules in 2006 to hide who was giving them money raising the threshold to $10,000 and linking it to CPI.

That indexation has got us now to $16,300. I was really pleased that Labor when in opposition provided a dissenting report, effectively supporting the bills, so let's make this a reality. Let's have a system where we know exactly who's giving what.

If gifts totalling more than the disclosure threshold are made by a single person to the same political party, branch or campaigner during a financial year, an annual return must also be provided to the Electoral Commission.

While the Special Minister of State when he was in his shadow role supported this, I'm yet to see in this parliament a desire for change. So I would really urge the government: let's have real-time disclosure of political donations. Let's not wait until the following February or, if it's just brand new into the new financial year, even beyond that. We need to improve this because this is about trust in our democracy.

I had a lovely intern here a little while ago. Her name is Isha Singhal, and she found in her 2023 Australian National Internships Program—she wrote me a paper, and it is called Global comparison of political finance regulations and recommendations for Australia—that:

It is vital that Australia prioritise political finance reform to ensure the continuance of a stable democracy in Australia that is truly representative of the people's needs.

While there are many other measures which Australia could adopt, including capping or increasing scrutiny of large donations, increasing public funding and dealing with emerging challenges as well as embracing opportunities arising from advances in digital technology, the bills before the House today provide sound first steps.

This is easy. We all now have systems in our offices. If Independent members of parliament can do this, I think anyone can do this, particularly the big machines. I therefore call on all members in this place to support this bill, and I would like to give my remaining time to the member for Indi, who is seconding my bill.

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