Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Development) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Labor Party does have very deep concerns about the level of foreign donations to the Australian political system. Labor members of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters made the point in their minority report that there are currently no restrictions placed on political parties regarding the source of their donations and that Australia’s current electoral law allows political donations to be received from overseas sources, although it is generally regarded that they are relatively rare. It is a matter of some concern, however, that we saw an individual contribute $1 million to the Liberal Party at the last election.

I am particularly concerned that Australian electoral law at this time effectively allows for no legally enforceable mechanism to check on the source of funding from overseas. We do not know how widespread the practice is. We do not know how many other donations have come through the back door, because there is no way of determining the true donor, nor are there any penalty provisions enforceable against persons who seek to abuse our electoral laws.

We know that at the last election an investment company by the name of Kingston Investments, which I understand is resident in China, donated $50,000 to the New South Wales branch of the Liberal Party and that it did not file an electoral return. As a consequence, the Australian Electoral Commission has no way of ensuring that the group complied with Australian law, given that it is based overseas and was not seeking to contribute by way of an electoral return. The Labor Party members of the committee made the point in their report that this was a matter that required urgent action. We take the view that there ought to have been a thorough inquiry by the government, which should have joined with us in ensuring that these matters were properly investigated.

I think it is fair to acknowledge that at this time there are a number of occasions that could be identified where political parties have received overseas donations. I acknowledge that the Labor Party has received small levels of donations from overseas. I know the Greens have. They are a little bit smaller again but, given their size, they are probably more significant for their financial position. I know that the racist and highly reactionary organisation the Citizens Electoral Council has received considerable support from overseas. I know it is an anti-Semitic organisation that has peddled the politics of hate throughout this country, and it is essentially funded from overseas. It could not possibly sustain its level of political activity based on its contribution from domestic sources. I know that its head office, which is based not far from where I live in Melbourne, could not possibly be maintained on the basis of local contributions only. Its offensive, racist propaganda is spread throughout the length and breadth of this country and it is essentially financed by Jew-hating organisations in the United States. I think it is obscene that organisations such as that are able to function in our political system, and the Australian electoral laws ought to be cleaned up to prevent that from occurring.

I am concerned that there be a proper inquiry. In government, the Labor Party will ensure that a proper inquiry is conducted to establish just how widespread these practices are, who it is that contributes and the circumstances under which they contribute. We need to properly establish how we can define the nature of foreign donations. As has already been indicated, there are various ways in which this matter can be tackled in international law.

It is a tragedy that this government seeks to pick the worst aspects of American political life and not the best aspects of it when it is pursuing its models. The Americans take the view that, if you are a citizen, you are able to contribute even if you live overseas. Prima facie, I cannot see a serious argument against that. But I take the view that they are right when they say, ‘We should not allow our political system to be subject to the dictates of foreign interests.’ There is no clearer way that that can occur than through the purse. As you know, Minister, the purse strings carry considerable weight in any political system.

That brings me to a recent example that has highlighted the problem that has emerged in this country. Lord Michael Ashcroft of Belize is a member of the House of Lords. As I understand it, he has been prominently mentioned in recent controversies because of his contribution of loans to the Conservative Party in England. A £3.6 million loan was provided to the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. He is a man mentioned in recent times as a person of some interest to the Drug Enforcement Agency in the United States. He was subject to their investigations—as I understand from reports I have seen—in regard to money laundering.

Lord Ashcroft is also a man who I understand has attracted considerable honours in the United Kingdom. One knows how much of an honour it is to be a person of such wealth, to take a place in the House of Lords and to collect Victoria Cross medals. I am told he has the largest private collection of Victoria Cross medals in the world. I am also told that he was knighted for public service to the people of Belize. There was some criticism, however, when he was appointed to the House of the Lords, because there was a concern that he did not actually live in the United Kingdom. As I understand it, one of the requirements for him taking a seat in the House of Lords was that he was required to live in the United Kingdom. They are very tough, so extraordinarily tough, the English, aren’t they!

Lord Ashcroft was Treasurer for the Conservative Party between 1998 and 2001 under William Hague. I recall that he ran into some controversy in the last election in United Kingdom because he sought to personally contribute by way of donation some £2 million on the basis that he got to pick the candidates who received the money. That is a measure of the way in which the British Conservative Party undertakes its politics. He is well known as the deputy treasurer of the International Democratic Union, an organisation the Prime Minister enjoys spending a lot of time with.

I understand the basis on which the $1 million donation was contributed to the Liberal Party of Australia was through the International Democratic Union. Shane Stone, the man who told us that this government was mean and tricky, organised for the $1 million donation to be sent by Lord Michael Ashcroft to the Liberal Party. It was on the basis that he had a longstanding admiration for the Tory government of Australia and he felt that providing the largest personal donation in the history of the Commonwealth was an appropriate way to prove this longstanding commitment to Prime Minister John Howard.

We do not know whether or not it complied with all the requirements of the AEC because there is no way the AEC, the Australian Electoral Commission, could effectively investigate the authenticity of the information that was provided on the return, if it wished to, given Lord Ashcroft’s foreign address. There is no way that we could establish what the terms of his $1 million contribution to the Liberal Party were. So this is a clear example of where we see not just the worst aspects of American political life but also the worst aspects of the United Kingdom’s political history being force fed into the Australian political system by this government. Even in England, they are now saying that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable and they are banning these sorts of donations. The Labor Party say we should ban them as well, and we will be supporting this amendment.