Democracy is not for sale
Parliament should serve the people, and work in the best interests of all Australians. Yet our weak political donation laws mean that our democracy is for sale to the highest bidder. Money shouldn’t be able to buy political influence, access or policy outcomes. The laws on political donations need to be cleaned up, just like the old polluting industries that exploit them.
Fairer Grants & Government Contracts Bill
The Greens have introduced a Bill to stop political donors from being awarded Commonwealth contracts, including the likes of Big 4 consulting firms.
Money shouldn’t be able to buy government contracts, development approvals, political access or political influence.
Yet it’s clear that’s what years of donations has been getting for organisations like PwC and the rest of the Big 4 and it’s legalised bribery.
The Big 4 donated more than $4.3 million to both sides of politics over 10 years, and secured $8 billion in government contracts over that same time period - work that could and should largely be done by a strong, independent public service.
Dirty Donations Bill
In 2022, Senator Larissa Waters re-introduced a bill to ban donations from coal and gas corporations and other sectors with a track record of buying influence, and cap all other political donations at $1,000 per year.
Coal, gas and oil corporations don’t donate millions every year to the Liberals, Nationals and Labor because they’re huge fans of democracy – they do it because it gets results. Let’s call this what it is: legalised bribery.
The influence of dirty donations on government decisions is why Australia has waited so long for stronger environmental protections and real action on climate change. It’s why reforms to hold the financial sector to account keep stalling. It’s why governments continue to spend millions on consultants at the expense of the public service.
It’s time for Labor to come to the table and work with us to ensure politicians work in the public interest, not the interest of their donor mates.