Political donations
Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (12:05): My question without notice is to the minister representing the Premier. At a time when public trust in politics is at an all-time low, heightened by a perceived lack of integrity around the flow of money into political parties and the implication of undue influence on government decisions, we need better transparency and reform of political donation rules. Alice Drury, a lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, has stated:
Donors give big donations to politicians in order to influence their decisions. It’s outrageous that we don’t know when and from where politicians get their money until well after election day …
The Centre for Public Integrity has also documented this issue in case studies provided to the government. My question is: will the Premier please improve the integrity and transparency of the system by providing for real-time disclosure of donations, plus quarterly reports indicating categorisation and disclosing any aggregation of donations?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:07): I thank Mr Hayes for his question. Mr Hayes has directed this matter to the Premier, although I think the Assistant Treasurer, who has carriage of the Electoral Act, may be able to provide him with a lot of information in relation to political donation reform to date. But obviously, noting his suggestions for further reform, it might be better coming from Minister Pearson.
The PRESIDENT: Mr Hayes, are you happy to refer your question to Minister Pearson?
Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (12:07): All right, I will refer it to the Assistant Treasurer then. I think it is good to be flexible. On a supplementary, federal Labor has indicated a willingness to rebuild trust with the national anti-corruption commission to tackle corruption at the federal level. If Victoria is to follow suit, then we need to remove the distorting influence from government decision-making in the best interests of the public. Large donations from industries such as the mining sector, property developers, the tobacco industry and the liquor and gaming sectors can undermine integrity. The practice has been described in the High Court as offering quid pro quo corruption, whereby a candidate or party may make bargains with wealthy donors. A number of jurisdictions have taken steps to ban political donations from certain industries that depend on government consent, such as the tobacco industry and property developers—very pertinent considering today’s press. Will the Premier please consider banning donations from individuals or organisations that rely on government contracts or permits to operate?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:08): I thank Mr Hayes. I will pass that question on to the Assistant Treasurer, who will be able to provide information in relation to the limitations that exist on donations and give commentary on some of the flavour that he added to his supplementary question, I am sure.