Pridať nové hodnotenie

Do Greens and crossbenchers who claim that transparency and integrity is at the heart of their reason for <br> <br> entering Parliament in the first place hear themselves?<br> <br> <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 of an arms race,<br> <br> 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 <br> <br> 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 to influence election outcomes - and the extent <br> <br> to 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 <br> <br> and frequency that disclosures of donations need to be made.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> At present we have the absurd situation in which donations get made - but <br> <br> you only find out the details of who has given what to <br> <br> whom many months later, well after elections are won and lost.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> In other words, what is broadly being proposed will result in much greater transparency and far less big money being injected <br> <br> into campaigning by the wealthy.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Teal Kylea Tink claimed the major parties were 'running scared' with the policy and warned <br> <br> 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 shot - <br> <br> saying if it serves only the major parties 'it's <br> <br> a rort, not reform'. Teal independent ACT senator David Pocock (right) said: <br> <br> '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, as opposed to $16,<br> <br> 000 under the current rules, will need to disclose having <br> <br> done so. And how much they can donate will be capped.<br> <br> <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 <br> <br> rort, not a reform'. <br> <br> <br> <br> They have lost their collective minds after finding out that Labor's proposal just might secure the support of <br> <br> the opposition.<br> <br> <br> <br> <b><u>I had to double check who was criticising what exactly before even starting to <br> <br> write this column.</u></b><br> <br> <br> <br> Because I had assumed - incorrectly - that these important transparency measures stamping out <br> <br> the influence of the wealthy must have been proposed by the virtue-signalling Greens or the <br> <br> corruption-fighting Teals, in a united crossbench effort to drag the major parties closer <br> <br> to accountability.<br> <br> <br> <br> <u><strong>More fool me.</strong></u><br> <br> <br> <br> The bill, designed to clean up a rotten system, is <br> <br> being put forward by Labor and is opposed by a growing cabal of <br> <br> crossbenchers.<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>Labor is thought to be trying to muscle out <br> <br> major political donors such as Clive Palmer</u><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Another potential target of the laws is businessman and Teal <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> calls to tighten donations rules (Greens leader Adam Bandt <br> <br> and Senator Mehreen Faruqi are pictured)<br> <br> <br> <br> The major parties have long complained about <br> <br> the influence the likes of Simon Holmes à Court wields behind the scenes amongst the Teals. <br> <br> <br> <br> And we know the Greens have taken massive <br> <br> donations from the wealthy in the past, contrary to 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 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 these transparency rules to take <br> <br> effect immediately, by the way. It won't be some <br> <br> sort of quick-paced power play before the next election designed to catch the crossbench out.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> They are aiming for implementation by 2026, giving <br> <br> everyone enough time to absorb and understand the changes before preparing <br> <br> 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 to go over <br> <br> the laws with a fine tooth comb.<br> <br> <br> <br> As they should - because it certainly isn't beyond Labor to include hidden one-party advantages in the proposed <br> <br> design which would create loopholes only the <br> <br> unions are capable of taking advantage of, therefore disadvantaging the Coalition electorally in the <br> <br> years to come.<br> <br> <br> <br> But short of such baked-in trickiness scuttling a deal to get these proposed laws implemented, the crossbench should offer their support, not <br> <br> cynical opposition, to what is being advocated for.<br> <br> <br> <br> <b>They might even be able to offer something worthwhile that could be incorporated <br> <br> in the package.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> To not do so exposes their utter hypocrisy and blowhard false commentary about being in politics to 'clean things <br> <br> up'.<br> <br> <br> <br> Feel free to surf to my web blog - <a href="http://www.Cybersanso.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=free&wr_id=435380">จัดดอกไม้งานขาว ดํา</a>
Hodnotenie: 
3
10 + 4 =