2019-02-08
The Greens have today called on the major parties to ban gambling donations and large donations from corporates and major donors.
“When it comes to cleaning up our democracy and restoring faith in our political system, the Greens have set the agenda and set the standard,” Greens Democracy and Integrity Spokesperson Caroline Le Couteur said today.
Next week, the ACT Legislative Assembly will look to reform the ACT’s Electoral Act.
The Greens have a long history of campaigning for electorate donations reform to ensure that there is a level playing field across parties and candidates. The Greens amendments to the Act will include:
- Banning Gambling Donations
The Greens’ amendments will ban political parties from receiving donations from entities that derive income from gambling, regardless of whether they’re for profit or not for profit.
“The Greens will always put people before pokies. That means keeping profits from destructive poker machines out of political parties and out of our democratic processes,” Ms Le Couteur said.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform recently reported that the major political parties received $2.867 million from gambling donors nationally, but this is by no means the full extent of the industry’s political funding in 2017-18.
- Putting a cap on big donations
The Greens will also bring forward amendments to restricting donations to $10,000 per year from any individual or corporate group.
“Unlike the major parties, the Greens refuse to take donations from corporations trying to buy influence. That means we are entirely focused on outcomes that are good for our community, not outcomes that suit big donors,” Ms Le Couteur said today.
At the 2016 ACT Election, the Greens campaigned for further restrictions to corporate donations, which the major parties didn’t support.
“The public funding to parties, which was increased to from $2 to $8 per vote for the 2016 election, has decreased the need for large external corporate donations and the major parties should adjust accordingly.”
- Canvassing limited to 6m around polling booths
The Greens’ amendments will limit canvassing within 6m of a polling place, bringing this in line with the Federal Electoral Act, meaning less confusion for voters.
Currently, canvassing can take place within 100m of a polling booth.
- ALP gets on board to ban donations from property developers
The ACT Greens today welcomed the Labor’s banning of property developer donations—realising a commitment in the Parliamentary Agreement.
“The Greens do not take donations from developers for this reason, so we are pleased to see this put into legislation,” Ms Le Couteur said today.
The Canberra Liberals accepted more than $156,000 in donations from property developers over the past six years.
- Expanding ‘property developer’ definitions
The Greens will be putting forward an amendment to expand current ‘property developer’ definitions to include non-profit groups such as licenced clubs and unions. Further work is required in relation to other associated entities.
"Property developers do not give hundreds of thousands of dollars to political parties for fun—they do it to win hearts and minds in the halls of our Assembly,” Ms Le Couteur said today.
The Greens believe integrity, accountability and transparency in politics are vital to a healthy democracy.
“The Greens can’t be bought and we won’t sell out,” Ms Le Couteur added.
Statement ends