Greens MP Michael Berkman and Greens Senator for Queensland Larissa Waters have welcomed Queensland Labor’s announcement today that they will cap political donations and expenditure and increase public funding, but called on them to ban all corporate donations and cash-for-access meetings.
Greens MP Michael Berkman said:
“It’s great to see Labor adopting part of the Greens’ plan to get big money out of politics in Queensland, but I’m also calling on them to support my Bill to ban all corporate donations.
“Corporate donations make life harder for everyday Queenslanders because it lets banks, lobbyists and mining companies set the agenda.
“There are still big questions for Labor to answer, including whether they are leaving union affiliation fees unrestricted as in Victoria, and whether they are cracking down on ‘dark money’ donations from associated entities like Labor Holdings and LNP Nominees.
“Big money in politics was the first issue I raised in Parliament, starting with banning corporate donations. Just a month ago, I wrote to the Premier about my plan to introduce a Bill to cap donations and expenditure.
“Last week in Question Time I asked the Premier to scrap cash-for-access meetings, so I call on Labor to urgently confirm that they will be banned.”
Greens Co-deputy leader and Senator for Queensland Larissa Waters said:
“Political donation data has consistently shown the major parties are owned by the mining, gambling, alcohol, property and banking industries. The caps brought in today will help reign in corporate interest and is a step towards restoring community confidence in democracy.
“However, Queensland must go further in removing the influence of big money and start restoring integrity into our parliament.
“The Greens call on premier Palaszczuk to go further and adopt Greens policy to stop all MPs from accepting lobbying jobs for five years after they retire and a ban on all corporate political donations including from mining, property development and gambling industries,” she said.
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