Labor government electoral reform negotiations ‘not genuine’, says David Pocock

Key Senate crossbencher David Pocock says the Albanese government has not been engaged in ‘genuine’ consultation with him over its electoral reform agenda.

Independent senator David Pocock. Picture: Martin Ollman/NewsWire

Key Senate crossbencher David Pocock says the Albanese government has not been engaged in “genuine” consultation with him over its electoral reform agenda.

He said the government has not raised with him the idea of raising the spending cap on individual candidates despite a report over the weekend that Special Minister of State Don Farrell was considering raising the cap from $800,000.

That figure has been a focus of criticism by independent MPs, who have accused the major parties of trying to entrench their power.

The reform package would also impose caps on individual donors, donations received by state party branches, and set a $1000 cap on donations that do not need to be disclosed, compared to the $16,300 disclosure ­requirement in the last financial year.

Furthermore, those donations would be reported publicly more quickly than the annual returns the electoral commission publishes currently.

Labor is trying to strike an agreement with the Coalition to pass the bill. Senator Pocock on Monday said the government had not raised the prospect of raising the candidate cap in their conversations. “They haven’t,” he said. “And all the talk of consultation has not been genuine consultation.”

He again accused the government’s reforms as being a “stitch-up”.

“I think they are fishing, trying to get the crossbench to bite so they can say, well, we consulted with the crossbench, we supported some of the amendments for what is just a total sham of the government.”