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

I will address my remarks to the electoral legislation that is also subject to this particular cut-off motion and commend to the chamber the arguments that have been put forward by my colleague on other matters. In relation to the other matter before us, the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Political Donations and Other Measures) Bill 2008 [2009], we have a critically urgent measure before the Senate, and unfortunately again we have the opposition trying to block measures which are critically urgent, which improve the integrity of the Commonwealth Electoral Act and our electoral system.

The history of this is as follows. Last year the opposition sent these measures to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters for a period longer than 12 months. Then, late last year, after the committee had reported early, we heard the opposition argue that these measures should be delayed even further. Last week in this chamber we saw the opposition combine with Senator Fielding and, on equal voting in the chamber, defeat this legislation on the second reading. In the House of Representatives on Monday of this week again the opposition voted against these measures now contained in the 2009 bill.

But the critical issue, the urgent issue here for the Senate to consider, is: what is being blocked? This legislation will implement six key reforms to restore much needed accountability and transparency to our system of political finance regulation. These measures are long overdue. These measures are urgent. These measures have a start-up date of 1 July 2009. What are they? First of all, there is a reduction in the donation disclosure threshold from $10,900, indexed annually, to $1,000, non-indexed—an urgent reform. The bill will also prevent the practice of donation splitting to avoid the disclosure threshold by treating donations to all branches of a political party as donations to the same party. It is an urgent reform. We need it now. We need it by 1 July this year.

The bill will also ban foreign donations—another urgent electoral reform to improve the integrity of our electoral system. The bill will also ban anonymous donations unless they are $50 or less and are received through fundraising activities or events—another urgent reform that needs to be in place as soon as possible, that needs to be in place by 1 July this year. This bill will also increase the reporting obligation on political parties, candidates and others who are involved in the political process—again, urgent, critically important and required now. Finally, this bill will tie public funding to genuine campaign expenditure so we cannot have a situation where a candidate or a party can claim public funding for electoral expenditure that they have not incurred. This is urgent. It has been identified as a major loophole in the Commonwealth Electoral Act for many years. It needs to be fixed and we need to address it by 1 July this year.

At no stage have the opposition ever engaged in this debate with the actual substance of the reforms. They have never been able to bring themselves to say they do not support these important reforms. What they have done is hidden behind a few fabricated process and timing arguments. I happen to believe that this bill is important. It is critically important, and those who have shown a genuine interest in reform of our political system agree. They are urgent and important measures. They should commence as soon as possible so that we can have in our Electoral Act and our electoral system more transparency, more scrutiny and more disclosure applying to political donations. That is why when I first introduced this bill I wanted to see a start-up date of 1 July 2008, and now, when the bill has been returned from the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, we have inserted a commencement date of 1 July 2009, to coincide, as you would of course appreciate, with the commencement of the next financial year.

When the opposition blocked this important legislation in the Senate of course we adopted the only possible course to give the opposition and Senator Fielding a second chance to put these important integrity measures in place. You have got to give the Australian Electoral Commission an opportunity to implement these changes. You have got to give the political players—the parties, the candidates and the associated entities—time to adjust to the measures. That is why at the end of last year I came into this chamber and flagged and tabled the government amendments to the bill in response to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. There was maximum opportunity for consideration by all involved and maximum transparency. But we have still got a situation, even this morning, where the opposition are hiding behind fabricated arguments about process. What is it all about? It is all about trying to stall and block these important integrity measures.

I suspect that the ugly truth here is that the opposition do not support greater integrity in our electoral laws. If they did, they would get on with it. After all, you have just got to look at the voting record on these particular matters. They have actually supported a system which enables donors, parties and candidates to hide behind a $10,900 disclosure threshold. They do not accept, apparently, banning foreign donations, though they have been critical of parties who have accepted them—even though they have accepted them themselves. We should not allow the parties and candidates involved in the political process to continue to accept foreign donations unabated. It is not acceptable. It needs to be fixed. Here is an opportunity to do it. It is not going to take any time in the Senate. We all know the issues; we have had the debate—just get on and pass the bill. All these reforms to our political finance system need to occur now. The start-up date is urgent. Having the Senate address these issues is critical.

You expect this sort of intransigence from the Liberal and National parties. It is very disappointing when major political parties that should have the same interest as the government in fixing problems in the integrity of the Electoral Act take such a negative position on these issues. But I suppose you come to expect that the Liberal Party do not support more scrutiny, do not support more transparency, do not support more openness, do not support more decency and do not support more integrity in our electoral laws in this country.

I was very disappointed, however, that Senator Fielding joined with the opposition to block the earlier bill. Senator Fielding said publicly that he would vote against this measure because the government did not support his amendment limiting public funding to political parties to $10 million. He is right about that: the government does not support his amendment. Okay, the government does not support this amendment—first, as every senator knows, because we are looking at public funding and associated issues through the green paper process. I do not believe that the quantum of public funding should be changed or fiddled with through this legislation. This is not the appropriate time to do it. We have six critically important, stand-alone, urgent measures before us. Let’s deal with those.

But, of course, it is not just the fact that this is not the appropriate time or place to deal with that matter; the fact is that Senator Fielding’s amendment is very poorly drafted. What it proposes is a $10 million cap on public funding available to any political party. What does this actually mean? What would it do if this occurred? The final funding payment for the Labor Party for the last election was a little over $22 million; for the Liberal Party, a little over $18 million; for the National Party, a little over $3 million; and for the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party, about $170,000. It would mean that the Liberal Party and the Labor Party would be capped at $10 million. Under this proposal from Senator Fielding the National Party would keep their $3.2 million and the Country Liberal Party would keep their $169,000. We now have a new party registered in Queensland. It would get its money. So what you would actually have is what I never want to see: an advantage given to one side of politics in the Commonwealth Electoral Act. The Labor Party would get $10 million, but for the coalition it would be $10 million to the Liberals, over $3 million to the Nationals, another slice of money to the Country Liberal Party and another slice of money to the Liberal-National Party in Queensland. This may not be what Senator Fielding intended. It is a poorly drafted amendment that probably does not achieve what Senator Fielding wants it to achieve.

Political disclosure, political funding and campaign financing reform is critical. I agree with Senator Fielding, and any other senator who wants to raise these issues, that they are important. They are a very high priority for me; they have been throughout my life in this parliament. I intend to progress this seriously and in consultation with all parties: the opposition, the Greens and minor party and Independent senators in this chamber. I have given that commitment to senators previously, and I stand by it. I mean it, but I am not going to have a very important measure that goes to the very integrity of our electoral system dragged down by some poorly drafted amendment that in fact will give a partisan advantage to one side of politics. We should not be on about these things. We should not support some isolated amendment, however well motivated it is—and I am willing to say that I am sure Senator Fielding was well motivated in what he proposed, but the consequences of it are serious, as I have outlined. It would have a disproportionate, unfair, untenable and unacceptable impact on public funding and campaign financing law in this country, and I will not accept that. The government will not accept that.

So I ask Senator Fielding to drop that position and support the critically important and urgent reforms in this bill. Do it now so we can start to address this issue of integrity of our electoral laws in this country. Nothing should be more important to all the players who are involved in the political process in this country. Nothing should be more important, and I would urge Senator Fielding, as well as Senator Xenophon, who has already indicated his strong support, as has Senator Brown on behalf of the party he leads, the Australian Greens, to join with the government—and I would hope that the opposition would—in a bipartisan, cross-party effort on the part of all parliamentarians and those involved in the political process to do something about improving the integrity and standing of our electoral system in this country.

What I support of, and what all senators and all members of parliament in Australia ought to support, is greater integrity in our electoral laws. Here is a chance to do it; here is a chance to start. Here is a chance to give candidates, parties and associated entities, all of those involved in the electoral process, fair warning about these changes. Here is a chance to see these critically important and urgent amendments to the Electoral Act commence on 1 July this year. I urge all of my colleagues in this chamber to support the government in relation to exemption from the cut-off for this particular bill and then get behind the government and support this important legislation.