Champagne, canapes, and mixing with celebrities.
This was how a number of MPs, including Bert van Manen, Don Farrell, Anika Wells, David Littleproud and Anne Ruston, spent their 2022 Melbourne Cup. Sounds like fun and noone has broken any rules. But when taxpayers are footing the bill for their travel and accommodation costs, it raises some questions.
It’s not just the Melbourne Cup. Parliamentarians have claimed travel and accommodation expenses and hired commonwealth-funded cars for a whole range of major sporting events. Often as guests of a hospitality, alcohol or gambling company. From the AFL and NRL to the Twenty20 World Cup.
Many have defended their allowance claims as official parliamentary business – which fall under the guidelines of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA). Set up in 2017, after even more egregious examples of the use by politicians of taxpayer funds, stories like these every sporting season show the rules need tightening. Raising appropriate questions about these trips – which the media often do – and which sometimes lead to a payback of the allowance – shows they’re glaringly out of line with community expectations.
Understanding MP expenses spending is critical for transparency and accountability in government. Even more important is knowing where political parties’ money is coming from.
Members of the crossbench on Tuesday announced plans to introduce a fair and transparent elections bill in both houses of parliament. The proposal includes a very modest mega donor cap, which would see donations of more than $1.5m banned, and plans to lower the donation disclosure threshold, introduce truth in political advertising laws and real-time disclosures of donations. Significantly, it doesn’t explicitly look at capping spending on election campaigns.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
As these proposals are put into the blender of parliamentary negotiations, it’s important that any proposed caps are carefully calibrated with other policy levers and do not favour the two major parties and incumbents. This includes workable public funding models, transparent reporting requirements, whistleblower protections, independent and adequately resourced oversight bodies, and strong compliance and enforcement for wrongdoing.
Analysis of Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) data by the #OurDemocracy campaign shows that dark money (income with no declared source) made up 23% of the major parties’ receipts last financial year.
In fact, over the past five years, more than $290m has gone into the major parties’ coffers with no public record of where it has come from. Nearly a quarter of all major party income this year is dark money.
The narrow definition of “gift” under the current laws also impacts transparency as cash-for-access deals between big money and the major parties – like fundraising tickets to meet MPs or membership fees to parties’ business forum – are not considered as donations.
This lack of transparency and increase in dark money is also accompanied by near record levels of donations from powerful industries, such as gambling, fossil fuels and the Big Four consulting firms, and wealthy individuals.
The money then flows into political parties’ spending – more than $400m of which was spent in a US-style “arms race” to influence voters in the lead-up to the 2022 federal election.
Sign up to Morning Mail
Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters
after newsletter promotion
So last year the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters put forward 21 welcome recommendations to improve donation transparency, reduce the influence of big money in politics, and strengthen trust and participation in our federal elections.
This excellent report included the government’s longstanding commitment to significantly lower the donation disclosure threshold and introduce real-time disclosure. It also recommended capping donations that finance political parties and candidates, and capping campaign spending on elections.
The federal government has been keeping its cards close to its chest aside from some recent reporting revealing some possible reforms. It shows that there is at least some movement at the electoral reform station.
As the world’s leading anti-corruption NGO, we’ve long called for reforms to combat the undue influence of big money in our political system. Operating in more than 100 countries globally, we’re also well aware of the challenges in getting the system right.
The test of any measure, including reporting of MPs’ expenses, should be whether it builds trust in our democracy, reduces the influence of big money in politics and creates a level playing field.
Clancy Moore is the CEO of Transparency International Australia and a member of the Australian Open Government Partnership Forum
From travel expenses to dark money, lifting the veil on political donations is essential for a healthy democracy
7
22
19.03.2024
Champagne, canapes, and mixing with celebrities.
This was how a number of MPs, including Bert van Manen, Don Farrell, Anika Wells, David Littleproud and Anne Ruston, spent their 2022 Melbourne Cup. Sounds like fun and noone has broken any rules. But when taxpayers are footing the bill for their travel and accommodation costs, it raises some questions.
It’s not just the Melbourne Cup. Parliamentarians have claimed travel and accommodation expenses and hired commonwealth-funded cars for a whole range of major sporting events. Often as guests of a hospitality, alcohol or gambling company. From the AFL and NRL to the Twenty20 World Cup.
Many have defended their allowance claims as official parliamentary business – which fall under the guidelines of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA). Set up in 2017, after even more egregious examples of the use by politicians of taxpayer funds, stories like these every sporting season show the rules need tightening. Raising appropriate questions about these trips – which the media often do – and which sometimes lead to a payback of the allowance – shows they’re glaringly out of line with community expectations.
Understanding MP expenses spending is critical........
© The Guardian
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Rami G Khouri
Nikkei Editorial
