John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

Just so that we are clear, when this bill was originally referred, the government and all the then minor parties in the Senate—which included the Australian Democrats, the Australian Greens and the then Independents that were represented in the Senate—were happy to see this particular piece of legislation brought forward for debate. I refer you to the Hansard so that you can refresh your memory on those matters.

Let me say that the issues and the measures that are dealt with in this bill are very important, and I hope all senators would acknowledge this. First of all, the legislation includes a measure to lower the threshold for the disclosure of political donations and political expenditure to $1,000 as opposed to the $10,900 index-linked threshold that it was raised to under the Howard government. It also proposes to introduce a six-monthly disclosure of donations and political expenditure rather than just annual disclosure. There is a proposal in the bill to ban foreign donations and anonymous donations. The bill also proposes that donations to separate branches of the same party being treated as separate donations for disclosure purposes will no longer be allowed, which obviously closes a loophole where multiple donations below the threshold can be hidden. It also makes the receipt of public funding for elections more accountable by tying it to verified expenditure—actual electoral expenditure—so that candidates are not able to make financial gain from public funding.

I made very clear at the time this bill was introduced that we consider these measures to be urgent. I still believe they are urgent. I still believe these measures are critically important reforms. I also believe that the green paper process is important, and I am pleased that other senators have acknowledged that that is the case. That green paper process is well in train. There is a consultation draft—best described as that—before state and territory governments as we speak. They are considering that, and I think that is absolutely appropriate to ensure that we have that level of consultation in the green paper process.

The involvement of the states and territories is important because, obviously, we must work for harmonisation of our electoral laws across the Commonwealth. Also, I think the involvement of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters is important, and I appreciate their report on this bill. It is also absolutely vital that we work cooperatively with the political parties—political parties of all persuasions—because they are at the coalface in relation to these matters, so that we can progress these important issues that are dealt with in the green paper. We must work within the framework that is provided by our Constitution and our democratic system, and we must work in accordance with the values of our Australian democracy, which are values that I hope would be shared by all in this parliament.

So that process is progressing, but this bill that the JSCEM has reported on remains urgent. We still have a situation where a person can be in receipt of public funds for elections without having spent those amounts of money on the actual electoral campaign itself. It has been a scandal. We need to fix it. The threshold of $10,900—courtesy of Mr Howard’s government—needs to be reduced to $1,000. These reforms are urgent, and I would commend their being dealt with by the Senate. (Time expired)