Trvalý odkaz Pridané používateľom Anonymný (bez overenia) dňa So, 11/30/2024 - 19:15
Do Greens and crossbenchers who claim that transparency and integrity <br>
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is at the heart of their reason for entering 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 <br>
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that the major parties look set to come together to support.<br>
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The reforms include caps for how much money wealthy individuals can donate,<br>
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caps on the amount candidates can spend in individual electorates to prevent the equivalent of an arms race,<br>
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and a $90million limit on what any party can spend at an election - actually less <br>
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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 <br>
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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 <br>
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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 of donations need <br>
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to be made.<br>
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At present we have the absurd situation in which donations get <br>
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made - but you only find out the details of who has given what to whom many months later, 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 less big money <br>
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being injected into campaigning by the wealthy.<br>
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Teal Kylea Tink claimed the major parties were 'running scared' with the policy and warned the reform would 'not stop <br>
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the 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 <br>
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a rort, not reform'. Teal independent ACT senator <br>
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David Pocock (right) said: 'What seems to be happening is a <br>
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major-party stitch-up'<br>
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Anyone donating more than $1,000 to a political party, as opposed <br>
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to $16,000 under the current rules, will need to disclose having done so.<br>
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And how much they can donate will be capped.<br>
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Yet the Greens and Teals have quickly condemned the proposed new laws, labeling them a 'stitch-up', 'outrageous' <br>
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and 'a rort, not a reform'. <br>
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They have lost their collective minds after finding out that Labor's proposal just might <br>
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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 write this column.<br>
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Because I had assumed - incorrectly - that these <br>
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important transparency measures stamping out the influence <br>
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of the wealthy must have been proposed by the <br>
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virtue-signalling Greens or the corruption-fighting Teals, in a united crossbench <br>
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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,<br>
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is being put forward by Labor and is opposed by a growing cabal of crossbenchers.<br>
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It makes you wonder what they have to hide. Put simply, the <br>
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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 such as Clive Palmer<br>
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Another potential target of the laws is <br>
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businessman and Teal funder Simon Holmes à Court<br>
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The Greens have taken massive donations in the past, contrary to their irregular calls to tighten donations rules (Greens leader <br>
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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 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 of virtue are running a <br>
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mile from reforms that will curtail dark art of political <br>
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donations.<br>
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The Labor government isn't even seeking for these transparency rules to take <br>
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effect immediately, by the way. It won't be some sort of <br>
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quick-paced power play before the next election designed to catch the <br>
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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 <br>
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the opposition want to go over the laws with a fine 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, therefore <br>
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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 crossbench should offer their support, not cynical opposition, to what is <br>
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being advocated for.<br>
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They might even be able to offer something worthwhile that could be incorporated in the package.<br>
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To not do so exposes their utter hypocrisy and blowhard false commentary about being in politics to 'clean things up'.<br>
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my homepage: ร้านขายดอกไม้จันทน์ ใกล้ฉัน - https://ecommk.com/question/%e0%b8%88%e0%b8%b1%e0%b8%94%e0%b8%94%e0%b8%ad%e0%b8%81%e0%b9%84%e0%b8%a1%e0%b9%89%e0%b8%87%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%99%e0%b8%82%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%a7-%e0%b8%94%e0%b9%8d%e0%b8%b2-%e0%b9%83%e0%b8%81%e0%b8%a5%e0%b9%89/
Do Greens and crossbenchers