Rachel Siewert WA, Australian Greens
6:09 pm
On behalf of Senator Di Natale I move:
That the Senate affirms that the corrupting influence of donations on public policy does not magically stop at the borders and uncapped domestic donations pervert our democracy in the exact same way as foreign donations do.
James McGrath Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister
6:10 pm
I seek leave to make a short statement.
James McGrath Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister
Following the 2016 election the Special Minister of State referred a range if issues to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters for inquiry. The committee has released two interim reports, one on the authorisation of voter communication and another on foreign donations. The government is responding in a timely manner to both. Legislation is currently before the parliament to increase the transparency of voter communication, and legislation to ban foreign donations will be introduced later this year. The inquiry's wide-ranging terms of reference included donations to political parties and other political entities, and the government looks forward to receiving the committee's report.
Question negatived.