Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I agree with Senator Ryan in what he said that the same rules should apply to both union and corporate donations. He talks about the tax treatment and I think it is fair to say that there ought to be a consistency in the tax treatment as well. What Senator Ryan has failed to do is acknowledge that there are some real issues in the transparency of political donations in a way that is not about red tape. It is about ensuring that we do not wait six or 18 months for donations to be disclosed. The Democratic Audit of Australia, I think, do good work. It does not mean that I agree with all that they do. I think they do good work in strengthening our democratic processes at least in terms of transparency and accountability, and that is something that needs to be done.

With those words I think that this amendment about having real-time disclosure during an election campaign, or within 30 days outside an election campaign, is far preferable to the very comprehensive response given by Senator Feeney on behalf of the government. There will be improvements, but I do not think those improvements go anywhere near far enough. On that basis I maintain that this amendment is the preferred course and now is an appropriate time for it to be dealt with.