2018-12-19
The NSW ICAC raid of ALP’s headquarters in Sydney shows political donations are a main source of corruption, yet the Government’s proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) wouldn’t even be able to investigate, Greens spokesperson for democracy Senator Larissa Waters said.
“The Government has intentionally designed a body that will ensure political parties can’t be investigated for the millions of dollars in corporate donations they take from industries like mining, banking and gambling," Senator Waters said.
“The raid on Labor offices by NSW state ICAC shows the need for both donation reform and a federal anti-corruption body that can investigate the influence of big money on our politics.
“The millions of dollars in political donations corrupt our democracy, yet the Government is proposing a weak federal integrity commission that will not have the power to investigate donations.
“The Morrison Government’s proposed CIC lacks broad powers, teeth, sufficient funding, and the capacity to investigate allegations of corruption from public tip offs.
“The Greens have repeatedly moved for an end to corporate donations and a cap of $1000 on all donations yet hit the major party road block every time as they choose to stay in the pockets of the big corporate donors.”
“Up to $100,000 could be donated to a political party without the need for disclosure, if it is split across state and federal bodies and below the $13,800 threshold.
“It’s an absolute indictment on our democracy that anonymous donations can be made without any laws being broken. Corruption could be absolutely rife yet there is no ability for anybody to investigate.
“There must be urgent political donation reform to close this channel for corruption once and for all.”