Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I amend general business notice of motion 361 in the terms circulated in the chamber and move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the High Court in McCloy vs New South Wales (2015) upheld a ban on political donations from property developers in New South Wales,

(ii) the High Court stated that the particular concern was that reliance by political candidates on private patronage may, over time, become so necessary as to sap the vitality, as well as the integrity, of the political branches of government, and

(iii) large political donations from both foreign and domestic donors threaten the integrity of Australia's democratic institutions; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) ban foreign donations and place caps on domestic donations to protect the integrity of Australia's democratic institutions,

(ii) cap election expenditure per seat, and

(iii) mitigate any caps with increased public funding.