The Greens condemn the major parties for voting to create a backdoor for dirty donors to bypass state donations laws.
Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson for Democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:
“Once again, we see the major parties going to every length to keep the dirty donations flowing to their coffers.
“These new laws allow donors to bypass state donations laws. If we leave this backdoor wide open, we will see big money flowing to state parties under the guise of ‘federal purposes’.
“Thanks to pressure from the Greens, Queensland Labor has banned the corrupting influence of donations from property developers. Yet both Labor and the Libs just voted for laws that will undermine those protections.”
Labor sided with the government to oppose Greens amendments that would have lowered the disclosure threshold, capped donations at $1,000 each year, and stopped all donations from industries – such as mining, banking, and gambling – with a track record of trying to buy political outcomes.
“We had a chance today to stop corporations from buying their seats at the table; but the big parties remain all too willing to sell democracy to the highest bidder,” Senator Waters said.
“Corporate money should have no place in parliament. It’s time the government cleaned up legalised corruption and put public need ahead of party greed.”
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