Australia Cracks Down on Political Cash to Avoid US-Style Spiral
(Bloomberg) -- Australia will cap donations from individuals and enforce greater transparency on contributions as part of a push to reduce the influence of big money in politics, as it tries to head off US-style spending sprees at elections.
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Under the plan announced Friday, individual donors and organizations will be restricted to giving A$20,000 ($12,905) per candidate in a calendar year, while the contribution disclosure threshold would be cut to A$1,000 from A$16,900.
In addition, entities will be required to disclose donations on a monthly basis, and then weekly during an election campaign. The new laws are not expected to come into effect in time for the next federal ballot, due by May 2025.
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“This is designed to take big money out of Australian politics,” Special Minister for State Don Farrell said at a press conference on Friday. “We’re targeting the system that allows an uncapped amount of money to be spent on elections. We don’t want to go down the track of the American election system.”
In recent elections, Australia has seen wealthy donors attempt to use their personal fortunes to secure political change, including mining magnate Clive Palmer and climate action advocate Simon Holmes a Court, son a of a famous Australian corporate raider.
At the most recent election in 2022, Palmer’s United Australia Party won one senate seat after having spent more than A$100 million on the campaign; at the same time, independent candidates backed by Holmes a Court defeated senior members of then-ruling Liberal-National coalition.
The announcement follows the US Presidential Election, where Republicans and Democrats spent more than $1.5 billion in advertising alone over the final eight weeks of the campaign.
Australia’s center-left Labor government and opposition center-right Liberal and National parties are expected to support the crackdown.
The changes have already been criticized by independent senator David Pocock, who won his seat in the 2022 election, saying he was concerned the new laws were a “major party stitch up.”
“No one wants to see a situation where big money buys elections and electoral reform is well overdue in Australia but any changes must create a level playing field,” Pocock said in a statement. “This would be terrible for our democracy and communities across the country looking for more grassroots representation.”
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