Major Parties voted against political donation reform - Clifford Hayes MP, Sustainable Australia Party

Labor and Liberal MPs voted to quash a Motion by Clifford Hayes to clean up political donations in Victoria, proving their dependency on the flimsy and corrupt status quo. The Motion was defeated in the Legislative Council in May.

Sustainable Australia MP Clifford Hayes commented,

“Once again, the major parties have shown their true colours and proven they are totally dependent on Victoria’s flimsy and corrupt political donation regime.”

“Liberal and Labor claimed the current political donation safeguards are fit for purpose. This is disingenuous and a direct contradiction to the sentiment of the Centre for Public Integrity, and quite frankly, the community they are supposed to represent."

“Who do we believe, the independent expert body or the partisan political parties with vested interests?”

The Motion sought to extend political donation regulations to include party fundraisers, corporate sponsorship of forums, levies and membership fees.

It also urged the Government to strengthen laws to address backdoor donations, whereby a Federal party counterpart or fundraising arm funnels money into a state party, with no requirement to declare where they received the funds.

“The Federal counterpart or the ‘fundraising body’ can receive the donation from a dubious source, and we’d be none the wiser."

“All you see is the single donation from the body to the party— they’re being used by major parties and candidates as a funnel of secrecy to avoid scrutiny.”