Labor and Coalition approach agreement on election reform as Jacqui Lambie warns of ‘dodgy deal’
Independent MPs and senators are irate as the major parties ice them out of a deal to limit election spending and big donors.
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Independent MPs and senators have been iced out of a deal to slash how much money politicians and parties can receive from a single source and cap campaign spending.
Labor has opted to work with the Coalition to reach a consensus on sweeping election reforms designed to rein in billionaire-backed campaigns, like Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party but would also dramatically reduce how much an independent candidate could spend in a single seat, including those funded through the Simon Holmes a Court-backed Climate 200 movement.
Crossbenchers have been railing against the major parties excluding them from a deal, which approached finalisation as many independent and teal MPs attended a drinks event hosted by Anthony Albanese at the Lodge on Tuesday night.
The new laws are due to be passed through the senate by Thursday at the latest amid speculation there will be no other opportunity before the 2025 election is called.
Labor’s original bill proposed a raft of changes, including limiting spending on any one electorate to $800,000 and national campaigns to $90 million, while also capping the amount a single source can donate to a candidate to $20,000.
Donors wouldn’t be allowed to give more than $600,000 in cumulative contributions a year.
The proposal also included dropping the threshold for public disclosure of donors from the current level of anything over $16,900 to just $1000.
Real time disclosure of those donations would also be implemented.
It is understood the Coalition sought to raise that reporting threshold to $5000 as well as lift the cap on the amount a single donor could give.
The changes are drafted to take effect from July 1, 2026, which would mean the upcoming election would be the last to allow mega individual donors and million-dollar candidate campaigns.
But crossbench MPs and senators have argued the caps on spending and donations from single sources, which do not capture entities like unions, are designed to advantage the major parties at the expense of independents.
The bill would also lift taxpayer funding for political parties to offset the lower contributions from private donors.
This week Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie used a speech to rail against what she called a “dodgy deal” between Labor and the Coalition.
“It’s the only time you will see the major parties working together and vote together,” she said.
“And it’s not to protect you Australians, it is the feather their own nests.”
Ms Lambie said it was “rubbish” for the Albanese Government to suggest they were consulting with the crossbench on the bill, revealing “they were not”.
In the 2022 election Mr Palmer spent about $123 million on his United Australia Party campaign, and while he only gained one senate seat in the process, Labor’s overhaul of the election funding was largely designed to prevent this level of singular influence.
Mr Palmer has already flagged his intention to challenge any finalised reform plan in the High Court, arguing the proposal was “designed to rig elections”.
The Prime Minister said on Wednesday that his Special Minister of State Don Farrell was continuing to have meetings “right across the parliament” with the Coalition and crossbenchers on the reform proposal.
“I think all of the political parties have a look at the way that the system’s been operating, where one individual can spend $100 million on a campaign, as we’ve seen, is something that defies our democracy because not everyone can do that and that’s a distortion,” he said.
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Originally published as Labor and Coalition approach agreement on election reform as Jacqui Lambie warns of ‘dodgy deal’
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