Labor Government Plans To Fast-Track Law That Caps Political Donations, Independents Cry Foul

In a bid to cap political donations and spending, Australia's Labor government has planned to introduce new laws in Parliament next week, though crossbench politicians argued that the reforms will primarily benefit the major parties.

Independent Senator David Pocock pointed out the proposed legislation, set to be fast-tracked through Parliament with coalition support and without an inquiry, would benefit the major parties and incumbents more, and prevent independents from competing on a level playing field, AAP reported.

"What seems to be happening is a major-party stitch-up," Pocock told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

Special Minister of State Don Farrell, however, argued that the reform was designed to ensure equal opportunities to all political participants to compete, and would reduce the influence of big money.

"The Australian electoral system should not work on the basis that the only people who can be elected into parliament are people who are sponsored by billionaires," Senator Farrell stated.

Independents had long advocated for greater transparency in political donations and sought to curtail the influence of billionaires and large organizations in influencing elections.

Under the new legislation, individual donations to candidates will be capped at AU$20,000 per calendar year, with this amount indexed. Political hopefuls will also face a spending limit of AU$800,000 per electorate.

For senators, the cap will be AU$200,000 per seat in each state or territory, which translates to a AU$9.2 million cap for New South Wales and AU$600,000 for the Australian Capital Territory.

The new legislation also lowered the disclosure threshold to AU$1,000, with adjustments every three years. It included real-time monthly reporting, which would increase to weekly updates during an election campaign and daily updates in the week before and after polling day.

The federal spending cap for registered political parties will be AU$90 million, while for organizations, unions, and advocacy groups, such as Climate 200, not contesting elections, the cap will be AU$11 million.

Pocock described it as a "sweet little slush fund" available to the major parties. Besides, the parties would receive tens of millions of extra dollars from a proposed increase in the Australian Electoral Commission's (AEC) per-vote payment to candidates, raising it from AU$3.50 to AU$5, he pointed out.

In the last election, Pocock, along with teal independents, were supported by Climate 200, which donated to their campaigns, some of which exceeded the proposed new AU$20,000 limit, reported SBS News.

"It's obviously something that community independents aren't going to have available to them and that's a huge amount of advertising across Australia," Pocock said.

According to independent MPs Zali Steggall and Kate Chaney, the legislation was favorable to major parties, while limiting competition. Independent Senator Tammy Tyrrell said the laws overlooked the money funneled to major parties through fundraisers and membership fees.

The reforms were set to be implemented by July 1, 2026, meaning they will not apply to the next federal election, expected to be held in May 2025.