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Do Greens and crossbenchers who claim that transparency and integrity <br> <br> is at the heart of their reason for 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> <br> <br> The reforms include caps for how much money wealthy individuals can donate, caps on the <br> <br> amount candidates can spend in individual electorates <br> <br> 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> <br> <br> The proposed new laws also include lower disclosure <br> <br> thresholds for donations, thus increasing the <br> <br> transparency of who makes political donations in the first place.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> So the wealthy wont be able to hide behind anonymity <br> <br> while using their cash to influence election outcomes - and the extent to which they can use their wealth at <br> <br> all will be limited.<br> <br> <br> <br> The bill will further improve transparency by also increasing the speed and frequency that disclosures of <br> <br> donations need to be made.<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 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 less big money being injected into campaigning by the wealthy.<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 <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> a warning shot - saying if it serves only the major parties 'it's a rort, not reform'. Teal independent ACT <br> <br> senator David Pocock (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, as opposed to $16,000 under the current rules, <br> <br> will need to disclose having 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 <br> <br> proposed new laws, 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 <br> <br> that 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 before even starting to <br> <br> write this column.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> Because I had assumed - incorrectly - that these important transparency measures stamping out the influence of the wealthy must have been proposed by the virtue-signalling Greens or the corruption-fighting Teals,<br> <br> in a united crossbench effort to drag the major parties closer to accountability.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b><u>More fool me.</u></b><br> <br> <br> <br> The bill, designed to clean up a rotten system, is being put forward by Labor and is opposed by <br> <br> a growing cabal of crossbenchers.<br> <br> <br> <br> It makes you wonder what they have to hide. Put simply, the Greens and Teals doth <br> <br> protest too much on this issue.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <i><u>Labor is thought to be trying to muscle out major <br> <br> political donors such as Clive Palmer</u></i><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <u>Another potential target of the laws is businessman and Teal funder Simon Holmes à <br> <br> Court</u><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 <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> 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 donations from 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 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 these transparency rules to take effect immediately,<br> <br> by the way. It won't be some sort of quick-paced <br> <br> power play before the next election designed to catch <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> opposition want 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 <br> <br> proposed design which would create loopholes <br> <br> only the unions are capable of taking advantage of, therefore <br> <br> disadvantaging the Coalition electorally in the years to come.<br> <br> <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 offer their support, not cynical opposition, to what is being advocated for.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <u><i>They might even be able to offer something worthwhile that could be incorporated in the package.</i></u><br> <br> <br> <br> To not do so exposes their utter hypocrisy and blowhard false commentary <br> <br> about being in politics to 'clean things up'.<br> <br> <br> <br> Look into my web-site :: เยอบีร่า ความหมาย (<a href="http://Autobmw.lv/user/KFKLorenzo/">Autobmw.lv</a>)
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