Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The government will oppose this amendment because, in the government's judgement, the current donation threshold arrangements reflect the appropriate balance between transparency and enabling Australians to participate in the political process. Where there is a donation over the threshold, it is required to be disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commission by both the donor and the recipient. The government believes that it is important that all political parties, associated entities and donors follow the appropriate federal and/or state disclosure laws.

The Commonwealth funding and disclosure scheme is administered by the AEC, an independent statutory authority. The scheme requires candidates, political parties, associated entities and donors in the electoral process to lodge financial disclosure returns with the AEC. These financial disclosure returns must be lodged by 20 October each year and are published on the AEC website on the first working day in February of the following year. The annual returns from political parties, donors and associated entities are all publicly available on the Australian Electoral Commission website.

If Labor were serious about donation reform, they would have made changes when they were in government. Indeed, I am advised that, as part of their agreement with the Greens to form government in 2010, they actually promised the Greens party at the time that they would not only pursue Senate electoral reform but also pursue reforms to the campaign donation arrangements—

Senator Jacinta Collins interjecting—

The CHAIRMAN: Order!

including the donation disclosure threshold. Senator Collins said something really confusing just now. She said that the reason Labor did not pursue these changes that they apparently support was opposition by the coalition. Hello? The Labor Party actually had the numbers in the Senate with the Greens. The Labor Party signed an agreement to form government with the Australian Greens. We all remember the photo.

I am not sure whether Senator Di Natale was at the picture opportunity. No, that was before his time. I remember the photo. I think Senator Bob Brown was still around and he had a big grin in the photo. It was actually quite a significant occasion. At that time, Labor promised two things to the Australian Greens that are directly relevant to what we are talking about here. They promised the Australian Greens that a Gillard Labor government would pursue Senate electoral reform. Of course, it was immediately put into the too-hard basket after the Greens delivered what the Gillard government needed. The other thing that the Gillard Labor government promised to the Greens, as I understand it, was to pursue relevant reforms that both Labor and the Greens apparently supported at the time in relation to donation disclosure thresholds and related matters.

There is absolutely no excuse for Senator Collins to come in here and say that the only reason they did not do it over the six years of the Labor government was because of the coalition. We did not have the numbers in the Senate. In 2010, we did not have the numbers in the Senate.

An honourable senator: In 2009 you did.

Hang on. The agreement between then Prime Minister Gillard and then Greens leader Bob Brown was actually signed in 2010. When I last looked, Ms Gillard became Prime Minister of Australia in June 2010. The election was in August 2010. The agreement with the Greens was signed in September 2010.

On 17 November 2010, you passed the relevant law through the House of Representatives which you had agreed to with the Greens—the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Political Donations and Other Measures) Bill 2010. But that is where it has stayed. That is where it is left stranded. You never brought it to the Senate, even though, if you wanted to, you had the capacity to move it through the Senate much more efficiently than we are able to move anything through the Senate.

In one week, you guillotined 136 bills through the Senate. Senator Cash, Senator Fifield and a number of us were actually here at the time—a number of us were not here. There was a whole bunch of bills on which we did not get to say as much as one word. All we got to do was perhaps raise a point of order. For Senator Collins to come in here and try to suggest that the reason they did not pursue the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Political Donations and Other Measures) Bill 2010, after making the promise to the Greens in September 2010, was because of us is just completely deceptive, completely misleading and completely inaccurate. If Labor had wanted to do it at the time, they could have done it.

It is very transparent as to why this is being put on the table here. There is one reason and one reason only why Labor are moving these amendments. They are trying to make things as uncomfortable as possible for the Australian Greens to support this historic and very important reform of the Senate electoral system. Some people in the Labor Party are desperate to ensure that the power to trade and direct preferences remains with backroom operators and political parties. There are some people in the Labor Party, and most of them here in the Senate, who just cannot accept that what we should be doing is empowering the Australian people to determine what happens to their preferences. There are some people in the Labor Party who just cannot fathom that the result at future Senate elections should truly reflect the will of the Australian people.

During this debate earlier today, Senator Collins made this very strange observation. Her key complaint against the reforms that we are putting forward is that a party that attracts more votes ends up with more seats. So the key complaint that Senator Collins has directed at the reforms put forward by the coalition government in relation to Senate electoral voting arrangements is that a party that attracts more votes ends up with more seats. We think that that is the way democracy is actually meant to work. This is a transparent stunt and the government is not going to support these amendments.