Trvalý odkaz Pridané používateľom Anonymný (bez overenia) dňa So, 11/30/2024 - 17:45
Do Greens and crossbenchers who claim that transparency and integrity <br>
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is at the heart of their reason for entering <br>
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Parliament in the first place hear themselves?<br>
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In the past few days they have mounted self-serving arguments against proposed electoral reforms that the major parties look set to come together <br>
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to support.<br>
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The reforms include caps for how much money wealthy individuals can donate, caps on the amount candidates can spend in individual electorates to <br>
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prevent the equivalent of an arms race, and a <br>
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$90million limit on what any party can spend at an election - actually less than the major parties currently spend.<br>
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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>
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So the wealthy wont be able to hide behind anonymity while using their cash <br>
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to influence election outcomes - and the extent to which they can use their wealth at all will be limited.<br>
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The bill will further improve transparency by also increasing the speed and frequency that disclosures <br>
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of donations need to be made.<br>
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At present we have the absurd situation in which donations get made - but you only find out <br>
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the details of who has given what to whom many months later,<br>
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well after elections are won and lost.<br>
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In other words, what is broadly being proposed will result in much greater transparency and far <br>
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less big money being injected into campaigning by the wealthy.<br>
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Teal Kylea Tink claimed the major parties were 'running scared' with the <br>
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policy and warned the reform would 'not stop the <br>
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rot' <br>
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Greens senate leader Larissa Waters (left) fired a warning shot <br>
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- saying if it serves only the major parties 'it's a <br>
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rort, not reform'. Teal independent ACT senator David Pocock (right) said: 'What seems to <br>
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be happening is a major-party stitch-up'<br>
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Anyone donating more than $1,000 to a political party, as opposed to $16,000 under the current rules, will <br>
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need to disclose having done so. And how much they can donate will be capped.<br>
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Yet the Greens and Teals have quickly condemned the proposed <br>
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new laws, labeling them a 'stitch-up', 'outrageous' and 'a rort, <br>
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not a reform'. <br>
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They have lost their collective minds after <br>
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finding out that Labor's proposal just might secure the support of the opposition.<br>
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I had to double check who was criticising what exactly before even starting to <br>
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write this column.<br>
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Because I had assumed - incorrectly - that these important transparency measures stamping out the influence of the wealthy must have <br>
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been proposed by the virtue-signalling Greens or the corruption-fighting Teals, <br>
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in a united crossbench effort to drag the major parties closer to accountability.<br>
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More fool me.<br>
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The bill, designed to clean up a rotten system, is being <br>
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put forward by Labor and is opposed by a growing cabal <br>
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of crossbenchers.<br>
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It makes you wonder what they have to hide.<br>
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Put simply, the Greens and Teals doth protest too much on this issue.<br>
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Labor is thought to be trying to muscle out major political donors <br>
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such as Clive Palmer<br>
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Another potential target of the laws is businessman and Teal <br>
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funder Simon Holmes à Court<br>
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The Greens have taken massive donations in the <br>
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past, contrary to their irregular calls to tighten donations <br>
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rules (Greens leader Adam Bandt and Senator Mehreen Faruqi are pictured)<br>
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The major parties have long complained about the influence the likes of Simon Holmes à Court wields behind the scenes amongst the Teals. <br>
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And we know the Greens have taken massive donations from <br>
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the wealthy in the past, contrary to their irregular calls to tighten donations rules.<br>
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Now that tangible change has been proposed, these bastions <br>
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of virtue are running a mile from reforms that will curtail dark <br>
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art of political donations.<br>
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The Labor government isn't even seeking for these transparency rules to take effect <br>
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immediately, by the way. It won't be some sort of quick-paced <br>
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power play before the next election designed to catch <br>
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the crossbench out.<br>
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They are aiming for implementation by 2026, giving everyone enough time <br>
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to absorb and understand the changes before preparing for them.<br>
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Don't get me wrong, no deal has yet been done between Labor and the Coalition. I imagine the opposition want to go over the laws with a fine <br>
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tooth comb.<br>
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As they should - because it certainly isn't beyond Labor to include hidden one-party advantages in the proposed <br>
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design which would create loopholes only the unions are capable of taking advantage of, <br>
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therefore disadvantaging the Coalition electorally in the years to come.<br>
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But short of such baked-in trickiness scuttling a deal to get these proposed laws implemented, the <br>
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crossbench should offer their support, not cynical opposition, to what is being advocated <br>
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for.<br>
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They might even be able to offer something worthwhile that could be incorporated <br>
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in the package.<br>
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To not do so exposes their utter hypocrisy and blowhard <br>
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false commentary about being in politics to 'clean things up'.<br>
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Do Greens and crossbenchers