Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I know what motivates this question from Senator Murray; I am sure it is the $18,000 international donation that the Australian Greens received from the Greens in Sweden, a country that I note does not have any disclosure laws. I am sure that is the motivation behind Senator Murray’s question. In relation to international donations, the government’s view is that in Australia there has to be disclosure of the source of those funds—at the moment, if they are above $1,500. We believe a more sensible threshold would be $10,000. So any source of funding that is above that threshold that comes to a political party from overseas would need to be disclosed. If there is a suggestion that all international donations should be stopped, that might be something that the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, or other people, might want to look at. As far as I am aware, it is not on the government’s agenda to do that, because we in general terms believe that that sort of funding flow is appropriate, and it seems that the parties have received benefits from all sources. But, having said that, I will pass that on to the Special Minister of State to see if he has anything further to add.