Berejiklian push to halve union spending on election campaigns

The NSW Premier has sought to squash a union campaign against her government ahead of the March 2019 state election.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: AAP

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has sought to squash a union campaign against her government ahead of the March 2019 state election, introducing legislation seeking to halve the cap on “third-party-related” expenditure able to be spent in the campaign.

Previously, under the O’Farrell government’s donations rules, which also introduced caps on donations, third parties such as unions could spend up to $1.28 million each during campaigns.

Ms Berejiklian’s laws, if passed by the upper house, would reduce this to $500,000.

For those third-party organisations that register late, the cap would be reduced from $644,300 to $250,000.

In the 2015 election campaign, three union-related organisations spent more than $500,000 on their campaigns: the Electrical Trades Union, which was fighting the privatisation of electricity poles and wires and spent $997,555; the NSW nurses union, which ran an extensive television advertising campaign and spent $907,831; and Unions NSW, which spent $843,000.

The changes are based on a report on donations reform by Kerry Schott, from which former premier Mike Baird had already introduced changes.

When Mr Baird’s predecessor Mr O’Farrell tried to ban donations from unions and corporations, after being elected in 2011, his legislation was overruled by the High Court.

Other measures announced by Ms Berejiklian yesterday included lifting the maximum fines the Local Court could impose on donations breaches from $4400 to $22,000.

The government also said it would:

● Apply expenditure caps to local government elections;

● Require political donations of $1000 or more to be disclosed within 14 days during the six-month period before a general election;

● Require political parties to disclose their senior office holders to the Electoral Commission, and require senior office holders to report breaches of electoral funding laws to the Electoral Commission;

● Subject “associated entities” to the same rigorous disclosure obligations as political parties; and

● Prohibit third-party campaigners from acting with others to exceed the cap.