Getting elected to parliament for less than $800,000? ‘Rubbish’, Lambie says

Independent senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock have accused the government of trying to push through political donations laws to lock minor parties out of power in what could be the last fortnight of parliament before the election.

Both MPs, whose votes are crucial if the government wants to pass laws without the support of the Coalition, said the government had gone quiet on the issue before Special Minister of State Don Farrell met with Pocock on Monday.

Senator Jacqui Lambie and Senator David Pocock said the proposed laws heavily favour the major parties.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Federal Labor failed to pass its reforms in November after fierce objections from crossbenchers who feared the laws would hobble their chances of defeating major parties with national budgets, but Farrell held fresh talks with the Coalition over the summer.

“The only people that’s going to benefit are the major parties,” Lambie said on ABC Radio National. She said the idea of a major party getting an unknown candidate elected on less than the $800,000 proposed cap was “rubbish” and issued a warning to the government.

“You may need to deal with more of us [independent and micro party MPs],” Lambie said. “I would suggest that you may want to get your head around that.”

The independents’ frustrations risk further delaying one of the Albanese government’s pledges to make reform electoral donations to limit the influence of money on politics as there are limited sitting weeks before a federal election could be called.

Labor’s proposed law would impose a cap of about $800,000 on spending in each federal electorate, which would block candidates backed by billionaires or groups such as teal funding organisation Climate 200 from spending millions on individual seats, but also allows parties to spend up to $90 million nationally.

Teals and independents have also argued the government is not prioritising its truth in political advertising bill that was introduced at the same time, as it lacks Coalition support.

“They’re willing to deal with the crossbench on other things, but when it comes to things that seem to go against some pretty strong vested interests or their own self-interest … the major parties vote against the entire crossbench,” Pocock said.

The Greens confirmed a meeting over the summer with the government about the donation reforms but had limited other contact on the issue.

Negotiations on the bill will continue this week. Pocock confirmed he met with Farrell on Monday. The bill is listed for debate in the Senate next week.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he trusted Farrell to negotiate with MPs to fix the problem of big money in politics and make donations more transparent. “We want more integrity in the system that requires the support of the parliament,” he told ABC Radio National.

As well as the cap on donations, the changes include a threshold for disclosing donations and a requirement that every donation is revealed more quickly than under the current rules, which state that donations made in the year to June 30 are revealed on February 1 the following year.

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