Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

In February last year our government passed once-in-a-generation reforms to our electoral system to get big money out of politics. We've just had another lecture from the Greens party, despite the fact that they voted against the electoral reform that we managed to pass through this parliament last year. If parties, including the Greens, were serious about tackling donation reforms, they would have voted for our legislation. This was the biggest package of electoral reform in 40 years. It has substantially improved transparency, including public reporting of political donations within days rather than months, and it has slashed the threshold of what is disclosed from almost $17,000 to $5,000. It included capping political donations, limiting campaign spending, restricting big donors and various other reforms to the electoral process in Australia that were badly needed. That is what the Greens voted against—the biggest package of electoral reform in 40 years.

Through Labor's initiatives, we will put down pressure on the money that trades hands in elections and make sure that Australians know more about who is donating to parties and candidates before they go to the ballot box. These important changes will limit the disproportionate influence of big donors and stop the arms race of endless fundraising and spending. We are now delivering on Labor's commitments to improve transparency and accountability across our electoral system. Our reforms focus on disclosure, transparency, caps and limits for everyone, regardless of who you are.

If the Greens were serious about improving our electoral system, they would have voted for our electoral reform last year. But, of course, the Greens party would rather lecture the parliament about their moral superiority on donations reform and gambling reform while being bankrolled by gambling interests.