A Victorian crossbench MP is set to introduce a motion to parliament next week calling on the government to overhaul the state’s “weak” donation laws.
It comes after the Centre for Public Integrity last week urged the government to strengthen rules around political donations, election advertising and lobbying ahead of the November poll.
Sustainable Australia MP Clifford Hayes says there are still many “loopholes” that political parties routinely exploit. This is despite changes to the state’s donation laws in 2018, which require donations above $1,050 to be disclosed and capped at $4,210 over four years.
“Party fundraisers, corporate sponsorship of business forums, annual levies and membership fees aren’t covered by the reforms,” Hayes said. “There’s also the backdoor way, where you can give to the federal party and because the donation laws are so weak federally that money is funnelled to the state.”
Hayes’s motion, to be introduced when parliament resumes on 5 April, calls on the government to broaden the definition of “donation” to include such income streams.
It also says “weak donation laws undermine the public’s trust in Victoria’s political and bureaucratic processes”, and describes donations from sectors who rely on the issuing of government permits as particularly “problematic”.
Hayes said the motion will help to rebuild trust in public institutions after the pandemic.
“I’m very concerned about public mistrust in politics. There is a feeling that the major parties have sold out to corporate interests and I believe political donations is a huge factor in that,” he said.
“The only way you can stop that, or fight against that belief, is to bring in tight laws to stamp it out. We can’t let it get to the extent where the public lose faith in political decisions and I think it’s getting to that stage.”
Last week, the Centre for Public Integrity said attendance fees for fundraising events should be captured by the definition of donation, as it is in New South Wales.
Catherine Williams, research director at the Centre for Public Integrity, said last week there were times those fees were higher than the cost of organising an event.
“For instance, there may be a dinner where an MP is the headline act and it costs thousands of dollars to attend, but we know that running that dinner doesn’t cost thousands of dollars,” Williams said.
“The difference between the cost of running the event and the fee needs to be explicitly captured as a donation. That’s how they do it in New South Wales.”
Hayes said it was problematic developers pay thousands of dollars to attend events with the planning minister with little oversight.
“They claim it has no influence, but surely if someone pays a huge amount of money to the party to talk to you about something they’re not doing it for the good company or the good food. They’re expecting something in return,” he said.
In February 2020, Hayes’s motion urging the government to ban property developer donations to political parties, MPs and local councillors was opposed by both Labor and the Coalition.
