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Do Greens and crossbenchers who claim that transparency <br> <br> and integrity is at the 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 <br> <br> look set to come together to support.<br> <br> <br> <br> The reforms include caps for how much money wealthy individuals can donate, <br> <br> caps on the amount candidates can spend in individual electorates to prevent the equivalent of an arms race, and a $90million limit on what any party can spend at an election - actually less than the major parties currently <br> <br> spend.<br> <br> <br> <br> The proposed new laws also include lower disclosure thresholds for donations, thus increasing the transparency <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> influence election outcomes - and the extent 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 and <br> <br> frequency that 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 the <br> <br> details of who has given what to whom many months later, well after <br> <br> elections are won and lost.<br> <br> <br> <br> In other words, what is broadly being proposed will result in much greater <br> <br> transparency and far less big money being injected into campaigning by the wealthy.<br> <br> <br> <br> <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 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 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, <br> <br> as opposed to $16,000 under the current rules, <br> <br> will need to disclose having done so. And how much <br> <br> they can donate will be capped.<br> <br> <br> <br> Yet the Greens and Teals have quickly condemned the <br> <br> proposed new laws, labeling them a 'stitch-up', 'outrageous' and 'a rort, not a reform'. <br> <br> <br> <br> They have lost their collective minds after finding out that <br> <br> Labor's proposal just might secure the support of the opposition.<br> <br> <br> <br> <b>I had to double check who was criticising what exactly <br> <br> before even starting to write this column.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> Because I had assumed - incorrectly - that these important transparency measures stamping <br> <br> out the influence of the wealthy must have been proposed by the virtue-signalling Greens or the corruption-fighting Teals, in a united crossbench effort to drag the major parties closer <br> <br> to accountability.<br> <br> <br> <br> <strong><u>More fool me.</u></strong><br> <br> <br> <br> The bill, designed to clean up a rotten system, is being put forward <br> <br> by Labor and is opposed by a growing cabal of crossbenchers.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> It makes you wonder what they have to hide. Put simply, the Greens <br> <br> and Teals doth protest too much on this issue.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Labor is thought to be trying to muscle out major political donors such <br> <br> as Clive Palmer</b><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 tighten donations rules <br> <br> (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 wields behind the scenes amongst <br> <br> the Teals. <br> <br> <br> <br> And we know the Greens have taken massive donations from <br> <br> the wealthy in the past, contrary to their irregular calls to tighten donations rules.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Now that tangible change has been proposed, these bastions of virtue are <br> <br> running a mile from reforms that will curtail dark art <br> <br> of political donations.<br> <br> <br> <br> The Labor government isn't even seeking for these transparency rules to take effect immediately, by <br> <br> the way. It won't be some sort of quick-paced power play before the <br> <br> next election designed to catch the crossbench out.<br> <br> <br> <br> They are aiming for implementation by 2026, giving everyone enough time to absorb and understand the changes before preparing for them.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> a fine tooth comb.<br> <br> <br> <br> As they should - because it certainly isn't <br> <br> beyond Labor to include hidden one-party advantages in the proposed 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 cynical <br> <br> 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 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 up'.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Also visit my blog: <a href="http://www.e10100.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=2579073&do=profile&from=space">ร้านพวงหรีดดอกไม้สดใกล้ฉัน</a>
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