Colleen Lewis calls for transparency on donations and a proper political donations regime in Victoria in her article in The Age.

Political donations: Victoria’s big secret.

She writes,

“What Victorians need to know, from any party fielding candidates in the forthcoming election, is exactly who is donating to them, how much they have given and over what period of time and what, if any, are the donors’ affiliations with corporations/businesses and so on.  This information is not available because Victoria does not have a donations disclosure policy (although all parties must lodge with the Victorian Election Commission a copy of their Federal annual return, which refers to the $50,000 cap on any donations received from casinos and gambling licensees).”

She says “One way of trying to close this gap, which democratic values are perilously close to falling through, is to have a political donations regime that is based on transparency and delivers accountability.  Such a policy is needed to assure voters that donations have not gone, and will not go, hand in glove with policy decisions.Should any party be without a political donations policy,  I recommend it and its candidates read and heed the submissions, transcripts and interim report of the New South Wales government’s Independent Panel of Experts Review into that State’s electoral funding laws. ”

To find these submissions, which advocate a variety of innovative solutions, read our post NSW Expert Panel on Political Donations – Submissions sought

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