❓ The Minister for Electoral Affairs updates the house on electoral reforms aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in political donations, highlighting the Electoral Amendment (Finance and Other Matters) Bill 2023 and criticising the Liberal Party's previous opposition to similar reforms.
AnsweredQoN 667Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELECTORAL REFORM
667. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister for Electoral Affairs:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's commitment to boosting transparency and accountability
around political donations.
(1) Can the minister update the house on the
government's electoral reforms, including the new laws introduced to Parliament today?
(2) Can the minister outline how these reforms will
improve transparency and accountability around donations to political
parties and candidates?
667. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister for Electoral Affairs:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's commitment to boosting transparency and accountability
around political donations.
(1) Can the minister update the house on the
government's electoral reforms, including the new laws introduced to Parliament today?
(2) Can the minister outline how these reforms will
improve transparency and accountability around donations to political
parties and candidates?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(2) A
lot has been said in the chamber already about the Electoral Amendment (Finance
and Other Matters) Bill 2023. I endorse what the Premier said earlier in
question time—that accountability, transparency and integrity form the
cornerstones of this legislation. The real-time reporting of political
donations will introduce both transparency and accountability into the system.
We will lower the cap so that all donations of $1 000 and above will have to be
disclosed and the identity of the donor identified. We are introducing real
penalties for breaches, with fines of up to $36 000 and jail for up to three
years for people who exceed their expenditure cap.
The
Premier was right when he referred to the fact that a bill was introduced to
this Parliament back in 2020 to
provide accountability. We brought in a bill that would have introduced caps
and accountability, but the Liberal Party voted against it. I heard the
member for Cottesloe on the radio today, and I think the member for Vasse as well, asking why we are dealing with
this now given all the pressures we are facing and all the things we
have to deal with. It is because we will have an election in 2025 and the
Electoral Commissioner has to deal with
these things in advance to get his systems right. Hansard of 13 August
2020 recorded the people who voted
against electoral transparency, including the member for Cottesloe, who is not
here today. The member for Vasse also voted against it. The rest of the
Liberals—Mr Kirkup, Mr Marmion—voted against the bill, but we
had the numbers and we passed it through the Assembly. The bill then went to
the upper house, but we did not have the numbers in the upper house to
introduce transparency and integrity to the electoral system before the last
election. The Liberals held up the bill in the upper house by sending it off to a committee and it went back and forth.
The member for Vasse asked why we are doing this today . It is because
the Liberals stopped us doing it before. We would have done this three years ago
if not for the Liberal Party's obstinate refusal to let that bill pass
the Legislative Council.
It is true that since I became the
minister, I have perhaps extended the bill.
Mr P.J. Rundle : How many
trees did you cut down?
Several members interjected.
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : I am glad that the substance of the
opposition's approach to this bill is to question how much paper was
used in producing the bill! What a puerile, silly objection. The reason we are
doing it now, in 2023, is that it must be done for the public of Western Australia.
The reason it is happening in 2023 and did not happen in 2020 is that the
Liberals blocked it in 2020 because they had the numbers in the upper house and
wanted to keep the members of the Liberal 500 Club and their donations secret.
Fair enough. The acid has now dropped in front of them. The big test will be
whether the Liberal Party repeats its pathetic performance of 2020 or comes on
board with the people of Western Australia—not Labor—who are
demanding transparency and accountability in relation to political donations.
(1)–(2) A
lot has been said in the chamber already about the Electoral Amendment (Finance
and Other Matters) Bill 2023. I endorse what the Premier said earlier in
question time—that accountability, transparency and integrity form the
cornerstones of this legislation. The real-time reporting of political
donations will introduce both transparency and accountability into the system.
We will lower the cap so that all donations of $1 000 and above will have to be
disclosed and the identity of the donor identified. We are introducing real
penalties for breaches, with fines of up to $36 000 and jail for up to three
years for people who exceed their expenditure cap.
The
Premier was right when he referred to the fact that a bill was introduced to
this Parliament back in 2020 to
provide accountability. We brought in a bill that would have introduced caps
and accountability, but the Liberal Party voted against it. I heard the
member for Cottesloe on the radio today, and I think the member for Vasse as well, asking why we are dealing with
this now given all the pressures we are facing and all the things we
have to deal with. It is because we will have an election in 2025 and the
Electoral Commissioner has to deal with
these things in advance to get his systems right. Hansard of 13 August
2020 recorded the people who voted
against electoral transparency, including the member for Cottesloe, who is not
here today. The member for Vasse also voted against it. The rest of the
Liberals—Mr Kirkup, Mr Marmion—voted against the bill, but we
had the numbers and we passed it through the Assembly. The bill then went to
the upper house, but we did not have the numbers in the upper house to
introduce transparency and integrity to the electoral system before the last
election. The Liberals held up the bill in the upper house by sending it off to a committee and it went back and forth.
The member for Vasse asked why we are doing this today . It is because
the Liberals stopped us doing it before. We would have done this three years ago
if not for the Liberal Party's obstinate refusal to let that bill pass
the Legislative Council.
It is true that since I became the
minister, I have perhaps extended the bill.
Mr P.J. Rundle : How many
trees did you cut down?
Several members interjected.
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : I am glad that the substance of the
opposition's approach to this bill is to question how much paper was
used in producing the bill! What a puerile, silly objection. The reason we are
doing it now, in 2023, is that it must be done for the public of Western Australia.
The reason it is happening in 2023 and did not happen in 2020 is that the
Liberals blocked it in 2020 because they had the numbers in the upper house and
wanted to keep the members of the Liberal 500 Club and their donations secret.
Fair enough. The acid has now dropped in front of them. The big test will be
whether the Liberal Party repeats its pathetic performance of 2020 or comes on
board with the people of Western Australia—not Labor—who are
demanding transparency and accountability in relation to political donations.
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