Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

A very wise man once said, 'Politicians should wear sponsor jackets like NASCAR drivers, then we know who owns them.' That very wise person was the late Robin Williams and I share his words. I've become increasingly concerned about the state of our Australian democracy, about the decreasing level of transparency and accountability of our political leadership. Abound in our media are disturbing stories of slowly fragmenting democracy, and democracy is a very fragile thing. Stories of political influence being traded and policy favours being procured, stories of foreign influence gaining purchase within our political landscape, stories of Aldi bags full of money changing hands to evade the gaze of the public interest—I've always said that if you want to see whose vested interests are being championed then follow the money.

This leads me to mention the gambling industry, one that we do absolutely nothing about in this place. Shocking allegations of money laundering were made against Crown Casino. Nothing was said in this place. I might remind the House that, just having a look at the Australian Electoral Commission website, I'm sure many in Australia were not surprised that over the last four years of disclosures around a million dollars were handed in donations just from Crown Casino to both of the major parties.

What can we conclude about water deals where we pay almost twice the recommended rate? Why is it that our government is merely disappointed that Westpac has turned a blind eye to money-laundering crimes that number in the millions? It is a matter for the bank, not a matter for us to deal with in here, is what we were told.

Right now a family of five can donate $60,000 to a political party and nobody in Australia would be any the wiser. They could donate $12,000 each, $60,000. Nobody would know. Well, I think they should know. This bill seeks to make it easier to follow the money that politicians and their parties receive. If enacted, the bill would lower the political donation disclosure threshold from $13,800 to $1,000 and remove the indexation of that threshold.

I'm one of the few members in this place who relies on community and microdonations to fund their political campaigns. I refuse to take donations from big unions or from big business. I've always maintained that if you're donating in the thousands of dollars rather than the tens or hundreds, or even a bit of coin, then the public has the right to determine for themselves whether those donations are influencing the views and the political positions of the recipient candidate or party.

This bill acts to complement my earlier private member's bill in this place—that is, the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Real Time Disclosure of Donations) Bill 2019, which calls for a maximum of a five-day lag. The disclosure of political donations is currently being considered in an inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.

Together, these bills are based upon the belief that greater transparency in our democracy will lead to greater democratic accountability. The public should know whether our representative democracy is representative of the demos, the people, or whether it's representative of vested interests. Trust in our democracy is at an all-time low, and I'm sure we all feel that. These two pieces of legislation are part of a solution to turn that trust around. We need to restore the compact between the government and those for whom the government exists to serve, those for whom this parliament exists to serve.

The Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Lowering the Donation Disclosure Threshold) Bill 2019 gives the Australian people the right to follow the money. I urge all members in this place to give the bill serious consideration and return more to the demos, the people. That is why we are here.

I commend this bill to the House. Mr Deputy Speaker, I would ask if my remaining time could be given to the member for Indi, who is seconding the bill. Thank you.

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