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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 <br> <br> hear themselves?<br> <br> <br> <br> In the past few days they have mounted self-serving arguments against proposed electoral <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> equivalent of an arms race, and a $90million limit on what <br> <br> 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 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 <br> <br> election outcomes - and the extent to which they can use their <br> <br> wealth at all will be limited.<br> <br> <br> <br> The bill will further improve transparency by also increasing the speed 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 <br> <br> get 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> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> In other words, what is broadly being proposed will result <br> <br> in much greater transparency and far less big money <br> <br> being injected into campaigning by the wealthy.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Teal Kylea Tink claimed the major parties were 'running <br> <br> 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 shot - saying if it serves <br> <br> only the major parties 'it's a rort, not reform'. Teal independent <br> <br> ACT senator David Pocock (right) said: 'What seems to be happening is <br> <br> 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, will need to disclose having done so.<br> <br> <br> <br> And how much they can donate will be capped.<br> <br> <br> <br> Yet the Greens and Teals have quickly condemned the proposed new laws, labeling them <br> <br> a 'stitch-up', 'outrageous' and 'a rort, not a reform'. <br> <br> <br> <br> They have lost their collective minds after finding out that Labor's proposal <br> <br> just might secure the support of the opposition.<br> <br> <br> <br> I had to double check who was criticising what exactly <br> <br> before even starting to write this column.<br> <br> <br> <br> Because I had assumed - incorrectly - that these important <br> <br> transparency measures stamping 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 <br> <br> to drag the major parties closer to accountability.<br> <br> <br> <br> More fool me.<br> <br> <br> <br> The bill, designed to clean up a rotten system, is being put forward by Labor and is opposed by a growing cabal <br> <br> of crossbenchers.<br> <br> <br> <br> It makes you wonder what they have to hide. Put <br> <br> simply, the Greens and Teals doth protest too <br> <br> much on this issue.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Labor is thought to be trying to muscle out major political donors such as Clive Palmer<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Another potential target of the laws is businessman and Teal funder <br> <br> Simon Holmes à Court<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Greens have taken massive donations in the past, contrary <br> <br> to their irregular calls to tighten donations rules (Greens leader Adam Bandt and Senator Mehreen Faruqi <br> <br> are pictured)<br> <br> <br> <br> The major parties have long complained about the influence the likes of Simon Holmes à <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> their irregular calls to tighten donations rules.<br> <br> <br> <br> Now that tangible change has been proposed, these bastions of <br> <br> 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 effect immediately,<br> <br> by the way. It won't be some sort of quick-paced power play before the next election designed <br> <br> 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 <br> <br> changes before preparing for them.<br> <br> <br> <br> Don't get me wrong, no deal has yet been done between Labor and the Coalition. <br> <br> I imagine the 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 <br> <br> advantages in the proposed design which would <br> <br> create loopholes only the unions are capable of taking advantage of,<br> <br> therefore disadvantaging the Coalition electorally in the years to come.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> But short of such baked-in trickiness scuttling a deal to get these proposed <br> <br> laws implemented, the crossbench should offer their support, <br> <br> not cynical opposition, to what is being advocated for.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> They might even be able to offer something worthwhile that could <br> <br> be incorporated in the package.<br> <br> <br> <br> To not do so exposes their utter hypocrisy and blowhard false <br> <br> commentary about being in politics to 'clean things up'.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> my webpage ขาย wine - http://www.v0795.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=248346
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