Greens’ political donations reform bill to be debated in the Legislative Council
Political parties, pollies and candidates would be forced to disclose all donations worth more than $1000 each month if a Tasmanian Greens bill passes this week. VOTE IN OUR POLL
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Political parties, members of parliament and election candidates would be forced to disclose all donations worth more than $1000 on a monthly basis if a Tasmanian Greens bill passes the Legislative Council this week.
The legislation was voted through the House of Assembly last year with the support of Labor and the crossbench.
Greens democracy and integrity spokeswoman Cassy O’Connor will bring on the bill for debate in the upper house on Tuesday.
Tasmania’s political donations laws are among the weakest in the country.
The Liberals passed donation reforms in 2023 but these will only come into effect on July 1 this year, imposing a disclosure threshold of $5000, which Ms O’Connor said was “obviously far too much”.
New federal laws that will see Canberra’s donations disclosure threshold reduced from $16,000 to $5000 were approved last year, despite Labor’s original intention to slash the threshold to $1000.
Ms O’Connor said she was hopeful MLCs would give the Greens’ bill “a fair hearing”.
“In the last five years, according to Australian Electoral Commission data, the Liberals have hidden the source of around $13m worth of their donations. Labor’s hidden about $5m in the past year,” she said.
“Secret political donations are toxic to democracy. Tasmanians have a right to know who’s donating how much to which political party and what quid pro quo is expected in return.”
Ms O’Connor said if the proposed new laws were passed, they would “cast sunlight into some of the darkest corners of our democracy that are created by cosy political relationships with corporations”.
Labor leader Dean Winter said the Opposition would again support the Greens’ bill when it came to a vote in the Legislative Council.
“Frankly, I want to see more transparency so that Tasmanians can see on an equal footing what all parliamentary parties are up to,” he said.
When parliament returns on Tuesday, Labor will attempt to hammer the government on its plan to review whether certain public assets may be privatised in order to repair the state budget.
“Tasmanians understand that’s a very bad idea because they’ve seen it happen in other states and territories,” Mr Winter said.
“When energy assets were sold in Victoria, prices went up by 170 per cent. Tasmanians don’t want to see their power bills go up because Jeremy Rockliff can’t balance his budget.”
A government spokeswoman said the Liberals’ existing donation reforms brought Tasmania “in line with other jurisdictions across the country”.
“The Greens never walk the walk – having been caught out accepting a donation from an oil and gas proponent,” she said.
The spokeswoman accused Labor of mounting a scare campaign on privatisation, saying the government was “carefully and methodically looking at if some of these companies need to be owned by the government, which is vital for Tasmania’s future”.
More Coverage
Originally published as Greens’ political donations reform bill to be debated in the Legislative Council
Bushfire alert at Wattle Hill downgraded
Crews continue to battle a bushfire east of Sorell, however the risk has been downgraded.
WATCH: Snake caught after slithering under kitchen fridge
Scott Smith was in bed and about to head to sleep when he got a call saying a dog had managed to corner a snake that had taken refuge under a kitchen fridge.