David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday, we heard a lot about political donations and the CFMEU—the coalition bashing the government, the government bashing the Greens, the Greens then trying to bash the government, and round and round and round. Eventually, the Senate passed a bill—a bill that was pulled together quickly to deal with a pressing issue. But one bill we haven't seen yet, which deals with an increasingly pressing issue, is on electoral and donation reform. This morning, across the country, many Australians bought a coffee. They tapped their phone or card and, within seconds, likely received an alert on their phone saying, 'You've just paid your local cafe for a coffee.' But, if we want to know whether any political party—the Greens, the government or even the coalition—have received money from the CFMEU in the past days and weeks, no chance.The transparency and timeliness in our electoral laws are an absolute joke. It will be six months before we find out whether the CFMEU has transferred large sums of cash to political parties—nearly six months!—and yet, in six seconds, you can know when you've transferred money. It's not good enough; it's not up to scratch. Australians deserve to know who is spending money on politicians and when the money is spent. The government must bring forward electoral reforms that bring transparency, in real time, to donations.