Media Releases

KEEPING POLITICAL PARTIES HONEST: Democrats launch measures to change politics [26th Oct, 2001]
by Senator Aden Ridgeway and Senator Andrew Murray

The Australian Democrats today in Perth launched their 'Keeping Political Parties Honest' policy as part of their commitment to changing politics.

Democrats' Deputy Leader Senator Aden Ridgeway and West Australian Senator and Electoral Matters spokesperson, Andrew Murray declared a key objective of Democrats' policy is to clean-up political donations.

"The Democrats strongly oppose the fundraising practices of the major parties which allow the identities of large donors to be concealed," said Senator Murray.

"Power, politics and money go hand in hand. If we are to avoid the corrupting influence of money, we need strong laws governing political donations."

Among the key policies of the Democrats are:
· requiring political parties to return donations from trust, clubs and foundations if they do not disclose the true identity of the donor;
· placing a ceiling of $100 000 on the amount of money any corporation or organisation can donate to a political party; and
· banning donations from overseas entities.
"We have consistently moved amendments in the Senate to reform party finances, but the major parties who benefit from secret donations have blocked our reforms," said Senator Murray.

Senator Ridgeway also announced measures to combat branch stacking and preselection abuse.

"The lack of transparency and accountability in political parties means corruption can occur. Political parties need to be properly regulated," said Senator Ridgeway.

"The reforms include giving greater powers to the Australian Electoral Commission to scrutinise branch stacking and preselection, and requiring political parties to comply with certain standards before they can be eligible for public funding.

"The Democrats' policy on keeping political parties honest is part of our long-standing commitment to changing politics," concluded Senator Ridgeway.