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Do Greens and crossbenchers who claim that transparency and integrity is at the <br> <br> heart of their reason for entering Parliament in the first place hear <br> <br> themselves?<br> <br> <br> <br> In the past few days they have mounted self-serving arguments against proposed electoral reforms that the major parties look set to come together to support.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The reforms include caps for how much money wealthy individuals can donate, caps on the amount candidates can spend in individual electorates to prevent the equivalent <br> <br> of an arms race, and a $90million limit on what any party can spend at an election - actually less than the major parties currently spend.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The proposed new laws also include lower disclosure thresholds for donations, thus increasing the transparency of who makes political donations in the first place.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> So the wealthy wont be able to hide behind anonymity while using their cash <br> <br> to influence election outcomes - and the extent to <br> <br> which they can use their wealth at all will be limited.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The bill will further improve transparency by also increasing the speed and frequency that <br> <br> disclosures of donations need to be made.<br> <br> <br> <br> At present we have the absurd situation in which donations get made - but you only find out <br> <br> the details of who has given what to whom many months later, <br> <br> well after elections are won and lost.<br> <br> <br> <br> In other words, what is broadly being proposed will result in much greater transparency and far <br> <br> less big money being injected into campaigning by the <br> <br> wealthy.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Teal Kylea Tink claimed the major parties were 'running scared' with the policy <br> <br> and warned the reform would 'not stop the rot' <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Greens senate leader Larissa Waters (left) fired a warning <br> <br> shot - saying if it serves only the major parties 'it's a <br> <br> rort, not reform'. Teal independent ACT senator David Pocock <br> <br> (right) said: 'What seems to be happening is a major-party stitch-up'<br> <br> <br> <br> Anyone donating more than $1,000 to a political party, <br> <br> as opposed to $16,000 under the current rules, will need <br> <br> to disclose having done so. And how much they <br> <br> can donate will be capped.<br> <br> <br> <br> Yet the Greens and Teals have quickly condemned the proposed new laws, <br> <br> labeling them a 'stitch-up', 'outrageous' and 'a rort, <br> <br> not a reform'. <br> <br> <br> <br> They have lost their collective minds after finding out that Labor's <br> <br> proposal just might secure the support of the opposition.<br> <br> <br> <br> <u>I had to double check who was criticising what exactly before even starting <br> <br> to write this column.</u><br> <br> <br> <br> Because I had assumed - incorrectly - that these important transparency measures <br> <br> stamping out the influence of the wealthy must have been proposed by the virtue-signalling <br> <br> Greens or the corruption-fighting Teals, in a united crossbench effort to drag the major parties closer to accountability.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <u><i>More fool me.</i></u><br> <br> <br> <br> The bill, designed to clean up a rotten system, is being put <br> <br> forward by Labor and is opposed by a growing cabal of crossbenchers.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> It makes you wonder what they have to hide. Put simply, the Greens and Teals doth protest too much on this issue.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <u><strong>Labor is thought to be trying to muscle out major <br> <br> political donors such as Clive Palmer</strong></u><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Another potential target of the laws is businessman and Teal funder Simon Holmes à Court</b><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Greens have taken massive donations in the past, contrary to their irregular calls to <br> <br> tighten donations rules (Greens leader Adam Bandt and Senator Mehreen Faruqi are pictured)<br> <br> <br> <br> The major parties have long complained about the influence the likes of Simon Holmes à Court <br> <br> wields behind the scenes amongst the Teals. <br> <br> <br> <br> And we know the Greens have taken massive donations from the wealthy in the past, contrary to <br> <br> their irregular calls to tighten donations rules.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Now that tangible change has been proposed, these bastions of virtue are running <br> <br> a mile from reforms that will curtail dark art of political donations.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Labor government isn't even seeking for <br> <br> these transparency rules to take effect immediately, by the way.<br> <br> It won't be some sort of quick-paced power play before the next election designed to catch the crossbench <br> <br> out.<br> <br> <br> <br> They are aiming for implementation by 2026, giving everyone enough time to absorb and understand the changes <br> <br> before preparing for them.<br> <br> <br> <br> Don't get me wrong, no deal has yet been done between Labor <br> <br> and the Coalition. I imagine the opposition want <br> <br> to go over the laws with a fine tooth comb.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> As they should - because it certainly isn't beyond Labor to include hidden one-party advantages in the proposed design which would create loopholes only the unions are capable of taking advantage of, therefore disadvantaging the Coalition electorally <br> <br> in the years to come.<br> <br> <br> <br> But short of such baked-in trickiness scuttling a deal to <br> <br> get these proposed laws implemented, the crossbench should <br> <br> offer their support, not cynical opposition, to what is being advocated for.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>They might even be able to offer something worthwhile that could be <br> <br> incorporated in the package.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> To not do so exposes their utter hypocrisy and blowhard false <br> <br> commentary about being in politics to 'clean things up'.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> my web page; <a href="https://Aexcom.Org.pe/index.php/Top_%E0%B8%8A%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%81%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%89%E0%B9%82%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%81_Tips">ดอกไม้แสดงความคิดถึง</a>
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