Demand for Immediate Disclosure of Political Contributions to Enhance Accountability
‘The data released today on political donations highlights the lack of transparency and integrity in Australian politics,” said the Australia Institute.
An Australian think tank has called for the implementation of a real-time disclosure system for political donations by the federal government to address the transparency and integrity issues in Australian Politics.
This comes following the release of data by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on donations to political parties and politicians in the 2022-2023 financial year.
The mass release of this information by the AEC annually has made it difficult for voters, journalists, and community organizations to hold politicians and political parties accountable for the donations they receive.
“We are learning today whether businesses made political donations 18 months ago. These lags and other loopholes make it difficult to see how politicians and political parties are being funded—and by whom.”
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Another transparency issue was the disclosure threshold of $15,000 (US$9,800), which prevented any donation below that amount from being disclosed.
The Institute said donors could circumvent the restriction by splitting their contributions into multiple amounts.
In addition, there was a lack of transparency in the “other receipts” category as it encompassed many types of payments, such as corporate membership fees, affiliation fees, levies on MPs and staffers, dividends, and so on.
Reform Proposals
The Institute put forward a number of proposals to strengthen the disclosure system.
A key proposal was the implementation of real-time donation disclosure for politicians and political parties.
At the same time, the Institute suggested the government lower the donation disclosure threshold and change the definition of “gift” to ensure it met community’s transparency expectations.
Other proposals included making ministerial diaries public to reveal potential connections between political contributions and political access, as well as legislating truth in political advertising laws.
Furthermore, the top 5 percent of donors accounted for 82 percent of all contributions, up from 41 percent in the 2005-2006 financial year.
Top Political Donors in 2022-2023
According to the latest data, mining billionaire Clive Palmer was among the top political donors in 2022-2023, contributing over $7 million to the United Australia Party–the political party he founded via his mining company Mineralogy.
Energy trader and environmental advocate Marcus Catsaras was among the top donors to Climate 200 with his $1 million contribution in May 2023, followed by share trader Rob Keldoulis, who made a number of personal donations worth $702,113 between October 22 and May 2023.
Large consulting firms also made significant political donations in the previous financial year.
PwC, which was embroiled in a scandal over the leak of the federal government’s confidential information in 2023, donated $369,973 to several political parties between July 2022 and May 2023.
Meanwhile, EY donated $227,853, followed by Deloitte ($177,126) and KPMG ($163,200).
