{"id":35706,"date":"2024-11-21T03:10:56","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T19:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/?p=35706"},"modified":"2026-02-02T22:10:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T14:10:25","slug":"the-labor-liberal-duopolys-autocratic-bid-for-power-anne-twomey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/the-labor-liberal-duopolys-autocratic-bid-for-power-anne-twomey\/","title":{"rendered":"The Labor\/Liberal Duopoly&#8217;s autocratic bid for power | Anne Twomey"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>What&#8217;s dodgy about the proposed Australian political donations reforms?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"ose-youtube ose-uid-b214389afeb1f5c58be9443ba8f7c85a ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:600px; height:550px; max-height:550px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\" data-embed-type=\"Youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" title=\"What&#039;s dodgy about the proposed Australian political donations reforms?\" width=\"600\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WWIO8AiwZSM?feature=oembed&color=red&rel=0&controls=1&start=&end=&fs=0&iv_load_policy=0&autoplay=0&mute=0&modestbranding=0&cc_load_policy=1&playsinline=1\"  allow=\"accelerometer; encrypted-media;accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;gyroscope;picture-in-picture clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Transcript AI<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Welcome back to the <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" title=\"Constitutional Clarion | YouTube channel\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC3EJDfpqrtS0cX-uptWe8dg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constitutional Clarion<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The Australian Government recently introduced two controversial bills, one dealing with<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> campaign finance and the other with truth in political advertising.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The campaign finance one is apparently going to be rushed through Parliament with virtually<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> virtually no scrutiny, even though it will not apply until after the next election.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The truth in political advertising one is being left to languish, so I&#8217;ll deal with t<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">hat on another occasion.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The campaign finance one is over 200 pages long.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Here it is, and this is double-sided, okay?<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> It is incredibly complex.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> What it does is it amends existing legislation, the Commonwealth Electoral Act, so a lot of<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> it involves adding or altering words in existing provisions, including definitions which affect other parts of the Act.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> This makes it impossible to read the bill as a whole and make sense of it.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The only way of doing it is to look at each amendment and figure out how it will alter<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> the existing provisions in the Commonwealth Electoral Act and then try and<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> work out how it all hangs together.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Now, to do that properly would take weeks.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">But we don&#8217;t have weeks because the Labor government and the coalition opposition have<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> done a deal behind closed doors and want this rushed through Parliament before anyone, like<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> me, can point out what&#8217;s wrong with it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Now that&#8217;s dreadful from a democratic accountability point of view.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> A bill that is so complex and has such a profound impact upon our democratic system requires proper<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> scrutiny. It&#8217;s even more important that it be properly scrutinized because those proposing<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> and passing this law have a very strong self-interest in it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"w-12\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"w-[100px]\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">It potentially preserves their power and uses taxpayer money to prop up the political parties.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The government&#8217;s weak excuse for the lack of scrutiny is that there was a parliamentary inquiry<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> into the previous election, which did discuss the general issues of caps on donations and expenditure.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Yes, there was, and I, along with others, did make submissions to that inquiry and gave evidence to it.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> But that was talking about generalities.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> It did not deal at all with specific provisions and how they would operate together, because there was no bill to discuss.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Any suggestion that this bill has already been subject to proper scrutiny is completely<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> disingenuous.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> So I&#8217;ll do my best here to give you an idea of what&#8217;s in the bill and the aspects that<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> I think are concerning.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> But because I actually have real work that I do have to do, quite a lot of which actually has to be done before the end of the year, my analysis cannot be comprehensive and it may not be perfect as well.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> I can&#8217;t guarantee that what I tell you will be absolutely correct because there may be<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> some tiny little amendment to a particular definition somewhere that actually makes a<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> difference.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> So I&#8217;ll do my best and in doing these videos, I&#8217;ll put them in different slices, looking<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> at different aspects of the bill to make it manageable.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"w-12\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"w-[100px]\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">So in this particular one, I&#8217;ll do an overview of the bill and then I&#8217;ll focus on the political<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> donations aspect of the bill, leaving expenditure, public funding, etc. for later.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Now for those of you who only watch the first couple of minutes of my video and then make comments in the comment section<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> that assume what I am going to say, often inaccurately, let me give you the TLDR.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> In principle there are good aspects in this bill, but when you get down into the detail<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> some of it is bad and parts of it may also be struck down as unconstitutional.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"w-12\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"w-[100px]\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">So yes, I am critical of the bill. But I&#8217;m also conscious that the perfect<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> should not be the enemy of the good. If the bill were to be defeated, we would lose an opportunity<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> to implement useful and necessary reforms. So if the major parties are not prepared to make fair<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> amendments to this bill in Parliament, and I&#8217;m guessing they&#8217;re not, it may still be best for the bill to pass and then see what<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> the High Court will make of it and whether it takes a scalpel to the more dodgy aspects of<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> the legislation when it is inevitably challenged. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">So what&#8217;s good about the bill? The Commonwealth has been lagging behind on campaign finance reform for a long time. Its disclosure requirements are weak, with a very high threshold for disclosure of donations<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> and long delays before disclosure is required.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> It has no caps on donations or expenditure, so that donors can spend large amounts to<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> either influence the outcome of the election or to influence ministerial decisions by buying<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> access and support for their interests. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">This bill will lower the disclosure threshold for donations<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> to $1,000 and will require much faster disclosure, ordinarily monthly, but more quickly around polling day. It will impose caps on electoral expenditure, bringing down the cost of campaigning<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> as well as putting caps on donations. These two things should, at least in theory, balance each other out in terms of cost.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The expenditure limits should reduce the amount of money that needs to be raised in political<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> donations, compensating for the reduced amounts raised in donations due to the donation caps.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> However, the political parties would not let the opportunity go by to increase their public<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> funding by the taxpayer.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">So the capping of donations,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> even at ludicrously high levels, as I will explain,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> is used to justify massive increases in public funding<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> for political parties,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> both for running electoral campaigns<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> and for internal party administration.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">None of this is good from a taxpayer&#8217;s point of view.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> So let&#8217;s get into the detail now about the caps on political donations.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> First, a little explanation as to what the point of them is.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The idea is that if you place a low enough cap on the maximum amount a person can donate<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> to a political party or its MPs or candidates during a year, then you can eliminate the<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> donor&#8217;s capacity to exercise influence over MPs?Well, can donations result in political influence?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">The answer is yes.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> In the McCloy case in New South Wales,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Mr. McCloy, a property developer and a political donor,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> actually argued in court that political donations<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> are made to secure access to politicians in order to seek to influence them. He even argued that this was<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> protected by the Constitution, by the implied freedom of political communication, because this<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> was his means of participating in the political system. Now the court, unsurprisingly, rejected<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> that argument. Justice Gagler even described it as being as, quote, perceptive as it was brazen,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> unquote. The court identified<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> different kinds of corruption that might arise through political donations.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">One is clientelism,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> where an office holder becomes financially<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> dependent upon donors so that he or she<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> ceases to act in the public interest and<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> instead acts in the interest of the donor.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"w-12\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"w-[100px]\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35716 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Fossil-Fuel-Duopoly.jpg?resize=800%2C819&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"819\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Fossil-Fuel-Duopoly.jpg 800w, https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Fossil-Fuel-Duopoly-480x491.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 800px, 100vw\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Another is War-chest corruption, in which the best funded candidates<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> and parties squeeze out other voices from political discourse by dominating<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> advertising and other means of mass communication.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The court accepted that laws which limit the, quote, uncontrolled use of wealth, unquote, in electoral campaigns can serve the legitimate purposes<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> of preventing the risk or perception of corruption, creating a more level playing field where<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> people have an equal opportunity to participate in the democratic system, and three, preventing the voices of the well-resourced few from drowning out the voices of others in political discourse.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">In New South Wales, caps on donations were initially set at the level of $5,000, although<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> it&#8217;s indexed, that&#8217;s now moved up to $7,900.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> And the rationale for that $5,000 cap was that the $5,000 of the billionaire was worth as much as fish and chip shop owner down the street.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> And neither of those $5,000 or those donors can buy access or influence because the amount<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> is too low and there would be too many other people donating at that level.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"w-12\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"w-[100px]\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">The validity of those caps was upheld by the High Court.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> How then does this theory translate to the Commonwealth&#8217;s bill? What caps does it put on political donations<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> by a donor? Let&#8217;s say we have a rich donor called Mr X. Mr X would like to influence<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Commonwealth ministers to look favourably upon his business interests. Under the new<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> bill, donations to a single party and its MPs and endorsed candidates are all aggregated together under a single cap.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> So Mr X could donate no more than $20,000 to them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"w-12\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"w-[100px]\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Now, while $20,000 is a much higher cap than it applies in different states.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> So for example, $6,000 in Queensland, $7,900 in New South Wales, $4,850 in Victoria,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> and there over the entire electoral period, it&#8217;s still not on its face excessive. But it gets more complex.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Major parties are structured so that each state or territory branch of the major party<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> is treated as a separate party. Accordingly, a donation under this bill to the members or<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> candidates who are endorsed by the New South Wales branch of a party is treated separately from a donation to its South Australian branch. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Now the upshot of this is that Mr X can make his<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> $20,000 donation to the different branches of the same major party in each<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> of the six states and<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> territories and the federal branch.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> And this is an annual cap.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> So Mr X can make that $180,000 in donations to political parties and candidates of the <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">same party in each year.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">That means that Mr X can make $540,000 worth of donations to his favoured party and candidates<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> over a three-year electoral cycle.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> But there&#8217;s more.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The caps reset once an election is held.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> So during an election year, you get the full cap in the period before the election.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-2 flex items-top\">\n<div class=\"w-12\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"w-[100px]\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35723\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Labor-corporate-donations.jpg?resize=1080%2C383&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Labor-corporate-donations.jpg 1118w, https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Labor-corporate-donations-980x347.jpg 980w, https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Labor-corporate-donations-480x170.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1118px, 100vw\" \/><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 16px;\">From &#8211; <a title=\"Democracy for sale - Labor\" href=\"https:\/\/democracyforsale.net\/parties\/labor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Democracy for sale<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">And that means that there are ordinarily four cap cycles in a three-year electoral term,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> allowing Mr X to donate $720,000 donations to other<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> associated entities and third-party campaigners who will look favorably upon<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> the candidates or party or policies that he wants during the campaign.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> There&#8217;s a cap of five<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> $20,000 donations annually in a state and then four to the associated entities or friendly third party campaigners in that state. There&#8217;s<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> overall also an annual cap for him of $640,000 in political donations. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Theoretically that<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> means that Mr X could donate up to $2.56 million over the four cap periods in a three-year electoral cycle,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> plus extra money for any by-elections along the way.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Now, it strikes me as rather unlikely that any individual or corporation would be<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> making donations to the extremes of the limits imposed. But it does show that the argument that this law is about taking money out of politics and preventing undue influence is utter nonsense.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Even with only a part of that amount, say $100,000 a year, you could still potentially buy influence.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Why is this important?<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Well, the High Court has previously held that caps on donations impose a burden on the implied freedom of political<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> communication because they reduce the resources from which political parties can communicate<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> on political matters, including during election campaigns. This means that it applies a test to see if the law is valid.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35724 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Liberal-corporate-donations.jpg?resize=1080%2C390&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Liberal-corporate-donations.jpg 1114w, https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Liberal-corporate-donations-980x354.jpg 980w, https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Liberal-corporate-donations-480x173.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1114px, 100vw\" \/><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 16px;\">From &#8211; <\/span><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" title=\"Democracy for sale - Liberal\/Nationals\" href=\"https:\/\/democracyforsale.net\/parties\/liberal-nationals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Democracy for sale<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"><br \/>\nThe second step of that test is identifying whether there is a legitimate purpose for the law that is compatible with the maintenance of the constitutionally prescribed system of representative and responsible government.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The High Court has previously accepted that laws can be made for the legitimate purpose of seeking to reduce or eliminate the risk or perception of undue influence or corruption flowing from the making of political donations.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> But in the case of Unions New South Wales and New South Wales,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> number one in 2013,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> the High Court struck down parts of a New South Wales law on campaign<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> finance, because the court could not identify how those<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> provisions served such a legitimate anti-corruption purpose, and it couldn&#8217;t identify any legitimate purpose<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> to support those provisions at all.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">In fact, the provisions in question seemed to have been structured in a particular way<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> to disadvantage a particular political party, which a court would not accept as a legitimate<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> purpose compatible with the constitutionally prescribed system of representative and responsible government. So what might the purpose be of these caps in the Commonwealth&#8217;s<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> current bill? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">The explanatory memorandum to the bill gives a clue. It points out that the two<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> highest political donors in the 2022 election were Clive Palmer&#8217;s Mineralogy Pty Ltd, which donated $117 million to a single minor party,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> and Climate 200 Pty Ltd, which donated $6 million to multiple independent candidates<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> and another $1.9 million to minor parties, MPs and third party campaigners.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> The Commonwealth&#8217;s bill might be perceived as being directed at restricting this high level of funding to small parties and independents that threaten the major parties, while not<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> limiting the ability of major parties to attract large donations from donors who would wish<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> to gain influence over them. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">Those donors could then spread their large donations in $20,000 packets over the major<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> party&#8217;s federal structure. As independents do not have a party structure spread across the country<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> to support them, they could only receive one $20,000 donation from a donor during a year.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> When added to the other aspects of the bill which do appear to favour parties over independents when it comes to things like public funding, expenditure caps and the use of nominated<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> entities, and I&#8217;ll come back to that in another video.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> It&#8217;s not inconceivable that a court<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> could find that the caps on political donations imposed by this bill are not reasonably appropriate and adapted to the fulfillment of a legitimate purpose<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> in a manner compatible with the maintenance of the constitutionally prescribed system<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> of representative and responsible government.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Okay, it&#8217;s a long mouthful, but that&#8217;s their test.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p class=\"text-left whitespace-pre-wrap dark:text-gray-200\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">This would render those provisions invalid.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> This is just all speculation on my part,<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> If I were drafting a law that was intended to withstand constitutional challenge, I certainly<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> wouldn&#8217;t be drafting it like that.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Thank you for watching the Constitutional Clarion.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> I&#8217;ll try to do some other videos on aspects of the bill that are problematic, but I do <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\">have timing problems, so we&#8217;ll have to see how that goes.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> In any case, I do look forward to seeing you again, as always, next time.<\/span><span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"> Goodbye.<\/span> <span class=\"inline py-1 m-0\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex ml-16 text-md\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000;\"><strong>Anne Twomey<\/strong> &#8211; Currently the Professor of Constitutional Law and Director of the Constitutional Reform Unit at Sydney Law School at the University of Sydney. A regular commentator on legal and constitutional issues for the Australian media.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\">Twomey holds degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne, a Master of Laws from the Australian National University and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\">Twomey has worked for the High Court of Australia as a Senior Research Officer, for the Parliament of Australia as a researcher in the Law and Government Group, and The Cabinet Office of New South Wales as Policy Manager of the Legal Branch. She has acted as a consultant to a number of government bodies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\">Twomey (unsurprisingly) is regarded as an expert on the Constitution of Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000;\"> <span class=\"css-1jxf684\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" title=\"Sneaky, excessive and unjustified: why Labor\u2019s electoral reforms are vulnerable to constitutional challenge | Anne Twomey | The Guardian\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2024\/nov\/20\/labor-electoral-campaign-finance-reforms-vulnerable-to-constitutional-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sneaky, excessive and unjustified: why Labor\u2019s electoral reforms are vulnerable to constitutional challenge<\/a> <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">| Anne Twomey | The Guardian<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s dodgy about the proposed Australian political donations reforms? &nbsp; &nbsp; Transcript AI Welcome back to the Constitutional Clarion. The Australian Government recently introduced two controversial bills, one dealing with campaign finance and the other with truth in political advertising. The campaign finance one is apparently going to be rushed through Parliament with virtually virtually [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":35726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[617,135,687,301,629,31,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aukus","category-australias-move-to-the-right","category-class-war","category-corruption","category-legal-matters","category-media","category-political-issues"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}