Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the rowdy interruptions because they don't like transparency. They don't like this. They don't like the idea that in the 2023-24 financial year—these are all disclosures to the charities regulator—$170 million went to these green groups pushing this environmentally destructive renewable energy agenda.

Some of those groups are getting funding from the CFMEU. I think the Greens still take money from the CFMEU. So how dare you come into this place and lecture the rest of us about how terrible these donations are, when you take donations from a discredited organisation that has been implicated in some of the worst corruption in this country for decades? Where do you get off? Even the Labor Party has decided not to take donations from the CFMEU. They won't give back the money that they took, but they have at least stopped current donations from the CFMEU. So where do you guys get off? Where do you get off when even the Labor Party—which I wouldn't necessarily hold up as a bastion of moral probity when it comes to trade union funding—have had to turn their noses up at the CFMEU? But you guys keep taking money from them, and you come in here and want to lecture us about donation reform!

Why doesn't your bill ban CFMEU donations? If you really wanted to ban dirty donations—that's what the name of this bill is, 'banning dirty donations'—where is the CFMEU? You've all shut up now, haven't you? You've got no response to that. Where are your interjections now? You take money from the corrupt CFMEU, and you have the temerity to come in here and lecture us. Give me a break! Give me a total break.

What's worse about the donations to these green groups that just want to make more money off the backs of Australian taxpayers is that a big chunk of them come from foreign sources. This is harder. It is much harder to find. The $170 million is available through the charities regulator. Unfortunately, there is a lot less transparency on foreign donations. You often have to go through annual reports overseas, and different countries have different disclosure requirements. But, over the last decade, at least $100 million has come from foreign groups. They often call themselves philanthropic groups, but they have a real agenda. They have an agenda to pursue this industrial solar and wind power. Often communities are trying to fight against this, to protect their own land and their own environment, and they're facing this massive tsunami of political donations from foreign sources that we should just really not allow in this country. We've tried to introduce foreign transparency requirements, but it's very difficult. It's obviously still happening.

Again, with this bill, if the Greens were serious about so-called dirty donations, why are they happy to continue to allow so much foreign money to come in and influence our political system, our country, often against the interests of local people who just want to protect their local environment? But the Greens are happy to sign up and stand next to the sorts of groups doing this.

These donations from foreign countries should be examined with much greater scrutiny. We have seen concern in other countries—there has been concern expressed by the European Union—that money flows from countries like Russia, who clearly have an interest in seeing Europe close down its gas industry, which it naively and stupidly has done, or largely done. They've become more dependent on Russia because of that. There probably has been some influence from the Russian government on European politics. We need to stand against that; that's what we should be standing against. What is very clear this year, or has become very clear this year, is that we need to become more self-sufficient as a country—more independent. The Greens' political priorities here, which seek to shut down the use of our resources, would make Australia more dependent on other countries and less able to respond to crises, as we've seen in the last few months. Denigrating the resources industry that underpins our security, wealth, prosperity and national security would weaken our country. We shouldn't seek to denigrate particular industries.

I am not proposing that we should ban donations from renewable energy companies. I think any business that legally participates in this country deserves to be able to participate in the political process, unless they're conducting illegal activities. We haven't even banned donations from the CFMEU, but maybe that should be considered. But, if you are legally participating in this country, you should be able to participate in the political process. The laws we pass do affect your business, your industry, and they deserve a voice, just like any other Australian.

What is most unfortunate about this debate is the constant questioning of each other's motives, particularly from a platform where no-one has clean hands. You take donations. We do. We all do. I'm upfront about it. You guys never are.