Labor promises political donations reform within 100 days

THE major parties’ donations won’t be disclosed before election day, but Labor is promising change if it wins.

Chairman of Love Your Local Michael Best with THA chief, Steve Old outside the election billboard at the Brooker Inn. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

LABOR would legislate an overhaul of political donation rules within its first 100 days of office, a move the Liberals have slammed as politically motivated.

A Rebecca White government would cap election expenditure, including by third parties, lower the threshold for disclosure from $13,200 to less than $2000 and make parties reveal their donations within 14 days.

Tobacco company donations and foreign contributions would be banned.

The new rules would mirror similar changes introduced in other states.

But the ALP would not reverse a decision to keep its election campaign donations under wraps and continue to abide by current rules, Opposition Leader Rebecca White said.

The Tasmanian Liberals have also refused to disclose their donations before tomorrow’s poll amid claims their campaign has been bankrolled by millions of dollars from the gaming industry.

“Labor will introduce legislation within our first 100 days of government,” Ms White said.

“Until that time, we have to operate within the laws that currently exist.

“Organisations and individuals that have made donations have done so based on the existing rules.”

Ms White confirmed Labor had received no donations from the gambling lobby, which the party infuriated with a policy to phase poker machines out of pubs and clubs by 2023.

“The Liberals cannot make the same assurance,” she said.

“The gambling lobby’s influence at this election has been for the express purpose of getting an outcome they will benefit from financially.”

Pro-pokies advertisements have dwarfed an anti-gaming machine campaign in newspapers, television, radio, social media and billboards since the campaign began nearly five weeks ago. Liberal Party advertising has been supplemented by campaigns from poker machine monopoly holder Federal Group and pubs lobby Love Your Local.

A Liberal spokesman said Labor’s changes would be unfair to other parties because of union donations to the ALP.

“Labor’s proposal would maximise the impact of union donations and support, but disadvantage other parties and is clearly a politically motivated attack on their opponents,” the spokesman said.

“For anyone to suggest that it is a nonpartisan proposal is ridiculous in the extreme.”

The Liberals have said they will abide by the current laws.

Tasmania has some of the weakest disclosure rules of any state, with the bulk of money received by political parties never revealed. Donations reform has already been backed by some Upper House independents, while respected political scientist Professor Richard Eccleston has called on both parties to review the rules.

The Greens and Jacqui Lambie Network disclose donations in close to real time on their websites.

“The Liberals are very good at hiding the sources of their donations and that’s why they’ve been so resistant to reform of our donations laws,” Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said.

“We may never know how much has been poured into the Liberals in this campaign.”

Opposition parties have meanwhile slammed the government for an apparent backflip on pubs and clubs tendering for poker machine licences from 2023.

“(Treasurer) Peter Gutwein needs to today explain whether he received advice from Treasury about how much the licences are worth and why he’s prepared to gift them to companies like Woolworths and Federal Group,” Shadow Treasurer Scott Bacon said.

Mr Bacon has also written to the Australian Information Commissioner and the Australian Privacy Commissioner asking that Tasmania be included in an investigation into alleged breaches by poker machine venues.

“We potentially have Tasmanians having their private personal details such as relationship status, how much they bet each time they’re in a venue and who they barrack for in the footy being shared in a predatory online poker machine forum,” he said.