Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on behalf of the opposition in respect of the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017. Almost two years ago—in fact, 716 days ago—I introduced, on behalf of the opposition, legislation into the Senate to ban foreign donations from our political system. In doing so, I reiterated Labor's belief that political donations from foreign sources are eroding our political system and that urgent action is required to address this. After our own legislation here in the Senate was not supported by the government, my leader, Bill Shorten, Leader of the Australian Labor Party, sought to progress this urgent reform in the other place, yet again to no avail. Unable to convince the government that they should outlaw foreign donations, Labor took action. Over six months ago, Labor voluntarily committed to refusing any and all foreign donations. We recognise the importance of the issue, and we didn't need legislation to act. We acted not because we had to but because it was the right thing to do. While I hope to see the swift passage of this legislation today, I call upon the Prime Minister to instruct the Liberal Party to stop taking any and all foreign donations: stop now—not one cent more.

I'm of the view that foreign donations are eroding faith in our democracy, are compromising our representatives and must be stopped. We must accept that the world around us is changing. We operate in a different era, a time of government sponsored hacking attacks and assassinations on foreign soil. We go about our business in the era of fake news campaigns and in an environment that has seen clear attempts by foreign powers to influence those in this chamber and the other. We're in an era of social media campaigns that can be launched within minutes, be funded from anywhere and reach millions of voters. Labor recognise that we must do all we can to combat these external threats to Australian democracy and our democratic institutions. Donations that seek to influence our political system are not only a threat to our electoral system but also a threat to the public faith in our democracy. Our democratic integrity rests not only on the fact that we do the right thing but also that we are seen to be doing the right thing. The Australian public are watching the controversies occurring in other established democracies around the world and wondering why our own elected representatives aren't doing more to protect our system and to protect our democracy.

Labor believes that the time for action is now. We believe that we have an opportunity in this place to finally prohibit foreign money from influencing our political system—and it is not an opportunity we intend to ignore. Almost two years after Labor moved to ban foreign donations, the government has finally presented the final version of the ban on foreign donations which is before the Senate today. The opposition will be supporting this legislation with the various and lengthy amendments we have requested, which have subsequently been listed by the government. We will also be moving a second reading amendment to this legislation with our commitment to lower the disclosure threshold for political donations.

There is broad consensus that we need more transparency around the money that supports political activity in our system. Reducing the disclosure threshold to $1,000 is Labor policy and it has been for a long time. We understand the important of greater financial accountability and we are going to act on that. If we form government, this is a policy we would look to implement, and we would do so with proper consultative process. We understand that there would be a range of entities that would want to have a say on how best to implement greater transparency around a lower threshold. We have shown throughout our consultation around the current Electoral Act amendments that we value the input of many different voices, and we would undertake that process in exactly the same vein.

Labor is of the view that the disclosure threshold of $13,800 is too high. Electors have the right to know who is donating to political parties. We must shine the light on who is making political donations and who is seeking to support a political outcome. Labor has been clear on our plan for reform. We took to the last election a proposal designed to, firstly, ban foreign donations; secondly, reduce the disclosure threshold; thirdly, ban donation splitting intended to avoid disclosure; fourthly, ban the receipt of anonymous donations above $50, fifthly, link public funding to campaign expenditure; and, finally, introduce new offences and increased penalties for breaches of the electoral law. Labor is still committed to taking the commitment to transparency further and has already committed to work towards a system of real-time donation disclosure.

Returning to the bill before us today: the government's approach seeks to define and prohibit a class of foreign donors. It seeks to create an offence within the Commonwealth Electoral Act for anyone seeking to influence our elections through donations or gifts from foreign sources and extends that offence to those wilfully receiving them. In Labor's original legislation we sought to define the money itself, reflecting the difficulty in prohibiting foreign donations in a globalised system. Although approached differently through this bill, the intent is the same: to prohibit those seeking to influence Australian voters from using foreign sources of funding—in particular, foreign states or state owned enterprises.

Although the opposition is today supporting this legislation, with those aforementioned amendments, this process has not been an easy one. The first draft of the bill contains some of the largest unnecessary overreach ever encountered in our political system. The government's first attempt, as the Senate would be aware, captured charities, not-for-profits, advocacy groups, churches, community organisations and single issue campaigners in a web of bans, hurdles and regulatory tape. Rather than focus on the substantive issues of foreign money, the government sought to wage a war on civil society and community organisations.

However, the government did achieve something quite remarkable—and that was to unite everybody from GetUp! to the Institute of Public Affairs, and everybody in between, against their legislation. That was no easy feat and it is one we should acknowledge on their behalf. The original legislation caused such significant unrest within civil society that our trusted charities and not-for-profits created the Hands Off Our Charities Alliance to combat these proposed changes. Such was the opposition to the first iteration of the bill that a number of organisations demanded that it be opposed outright, refusing to believe that amendments could be made to satisfy their concerns. As it was my belief, and that of the opposition, that a ban on foreign donations was a necessary and urgent reform, Labor decided to engage with the government constructively and present an opportunity to fix its legislation.

The bill was referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, not once but twice—once to review the bill and the second time to review the proposed changes. Both times, the members of JSCEM worked diligently to engage across the parliamentary and various sectors to make recommendations for reform. I would particularly like to acknowledge the Labor members on JSCEM—Mr Andrew Giles; Mr Milton Dick; Senator Ketter, who is sitting behind me; and Senator Brown—for their service on those inquiries. I'll also mention the work that my staff, particularly Ben Rillo, did in respect of the JSCEM committee.

Following the second review by JSCEM, Labor worked continuously with the office of the minister to ensure that remaining community concerns were addressed and the appropriate amendments made. I will speak further on the government amendments in the course of the committee stage, but there are two key commitments that I believe are integral to restoring faith within the civil society sector. The first is a clearer and more concise definition of what is considered to be an electoral matter. This definition, acting as the gateway to the Commonwealth Electoral Act, should not capture legitimate public policy advocacy and should not be reserved for those seeking to influence a voter or the result of an election. The second is a guaranteed review of the practical operation of the legislation by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. It's vital that any future government be held to the promise that the operation of this bill will be evaluated by that bipartisan committee and, if necessary, any further changes made.

I'd like to formally acknowledge and thank those members of the organisations and charities which placed their trust in Labor to negotiate amendments and worked constructively with us to review any changes. Today, the integrity of our democracy can be taken a step forward. Today, we can achieve one more step in protecting the very governance of our country and restore some faith in the eyes of the Australian public. I urge all senators to support the bill and the associated government amendments to finally achieve a ban on foreign donations.

I move:

At the end of the motion, add:

", but the Senate:

(a) supports increased transparency throughout our political system,

(b) notes the current threshold for disclosure of political donations is too high, at $10,000 (indexed to inflation); and

(c) believes the threshold for disclosure of political donations should be set at $1,000, not indexed to inflation."