‘Not true’: MP crashes Labor minister’s doorstop on donor reforms

A Teal independent and a Labor minister have clashed in a Parliament House hallway over donor reforms crossbenchers are calling dodgy.

Independent MP Zali Steggall has crashed a Labor minister’s media appearance to challenge the Albanese government’s political donor reforms.

Labor’s Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Bill 2024 passed the Lower House on Thursday after making it through the Senate overnight.

The changes will significantly limit donations for independents with the aim of curbing the influence of billionaires.

Special Minister for State Don Farrell was telling reporters in the press gallery that the Albanese government had been looking at reforming donor rules since coming to power when Ms Steggall interrupted him, saying: “That’s not true”.

Independent MP Zali Steggall (left) has crashed a Labor minister’s media appearance to challenge the Albanese government’s political donor reforms. Picture: Supplied

“Why don’t you tell the Australian people what is going to happen, the big money that will be in politics will be the public money, because now the public is paying for the money that you want to still spend during elections, and the only people that participate in elections will be union members?” Ms Steggall said.

Senator Farrell hit back: “That that is completely untrue.”

He was saying unions were “subject to exactly the same rules” when Ms Steggall again cut in.

“Have you explained nominated entities? The big pool of cash parties now have available to them?” she asked.

She called it a “secret loophole”.

“There are no secret loopholes in this legislation,” Senator Farrell said.

“This legislation, for the first time, enables every single Australian ... to know exactly who is donating to the political ... candidate of your choice, and how much they are donating.”

He went on to call it the “most transparent electoral reforms that has ever occurred in this country”.

Under the changes, an individual donor can give a total $50,000 to a candidate or political party.

But the cap for big parties is effectively $450,000 because state and territory branches are considered separate.

Parties will also have a spending cap of $90m, whereas individual candidates can only spend $800,000.

Meanwhile, donations higher than $5000 must be disclosed, down from $16,900.

‘I’m offended’: Jacqui Lambie’s anger at change

Ahead of the reforms passing the Senate last night, an angry Jacqui Lambie accused the major parties of trying to keep “ordinary Aussies” like herself out of parliament, in a scathing attack on controversial sweeping electoral reforms.

Senator Lambie, who won her Tasmanian senate seat as a member of billionaire Clive Palmer’s Palmer United Party (PUP) at the 2013 election, reacted angrily to Senator Farrell’s statement.

“Well, well, well. I have to say I’m offended because the only way I got here was that I was given an opportunity, as a normal Aussie, by Clive Palmer,” Senator Lambie told the Senate.

“Are you now saying to me, that after 10 years in this place, that I don’t belong here?

“Is that what you are saying that that opportunity that was given to me and you are going to take it off everyone else and that I haven’t earned my way up here.

“By God, I’m offended.”

Jacqui Lambie has attacked the election donations Bill, saying she wouldn't be in the Senate without the support of Clive Palmer. Picture: Supplied

Jacqui Lambie entered the Senate after the 2013 election as member of mining magnate Clive Palmer’s party. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Senator Lambie quit PUP in 2014 after disagreements over policy, but has stood as an independent before forming the Jacqui Lambie Network.

Crossbench ire

Teal independent for the Western Australia seat of Curtin, Kate Chaney, said on Wednesday it was a “major party stitch up”.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of the Bill’s expected passage in the Senate, Ms Chaney stood alongside a chorus on independents MPs and senators including Allegra Spender, Ms Steggall, Sophie Scamps, Monique Ryan, Lidia Thorpe, David Pocock, Dai Le, and Andrew Wilkie.

Kate Chaney lashed the deal on electoral reforms as a ‘major party stitch up’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“This will mean that taxpayers pay more for less choice. The major parties will get about two and a half times the public funding they got at the 2022 election by 2028, and it will be much harder for independents to challenge major parties,” Ms Chaney said.

“This changes who can get into parliament, and it has had no scrutiny.

“It has not gone to a parliamentary inquiry. The experts have not had a chance to really understand what impact this has.”

While the government says the biggest suite of electoral reforms in four decades will curb the political influence of billionaires, Ms Le, who sensationally ousted Labor in its heartland seat of Fowler in 2022, said the lowered election spending levels would hamper community candidates from entering politics.

“Somebody in a multicultural community out in South Western or Western Sydney in particular, who’s going to try and run as an independent … it’s going to be hard for them,” she said.

“It definitely will prevent anybody from actually giving it a go.”

Fowler MP Dai Le said the reduced spending caps on elections, and lowered donations thresholds will prevent community independents from running in elections. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The major upset to the influential independent cross bench comes as polling is tipping a minority government as the outcome of the federal election, which means either Labor or the Coalition will need to seek support from the crossbench to form government.

While independents did not directly answer whether repealing the caps would affect their desire to work with the government, Ms Chaney said “transparency and accountability in our in our democracy” was a “priority” and would factor into “deciding who I could work with”.

Ms Steggall said the lack of negotiations on electoral reform had impacted her trust in the government.

“All I can say from this experience is I have no confidence in (Special Minister of State) Don Farrell and he has the approval of the Prime Minister, so that absolutely has an impact for me in terms of good faith negotiations,” she said.

Tasmanian MP for Clark, Mr Wilkie said he believed that major parties will be punished at the polls over the electoral reforms.

This comes as the primary vote for major parties has steadily decreased in the last 40 years in both federal and state elections.

“The two party system is dying, and they can do whatever they want, they can pull whatever stunt they want … but their vote will keep going down, and people like us will keep getting elected,” he said.

“And it will be the major party’s fault, and a stunt like this today will be in the mix when they look at the entrails when they work out why they failed.”