Bill capping individual donations at $50,000 passes parliament

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Angry independent MPs and senators have vowed to unpick electoral funding reforms rushed through federal parliament this week. The laws govern how much candidates can spend and receive but independents say they favour the major parties.

Transcript

00:00Well, the idea of these laws, Jo, is that they are meant to limit how much donors can

00:06spend on elections to try and stop people like Clive Palmer, for example, spending tens

00:12of millions on the election.

00:14But it's also meant to stop or limit how much each candidate spends in their own seat.

00:19Now, the details of these laws that have passed are that the maximum amount an individual

00:25donor can donate to a candidate or a party is $50,000.

00:30That doesn't include state and territory branches, though, so if you're a major party like the

00:35Liberal or the Labor Party, you're able to receive through your branch about $450,000.

00:40That's the cap there.

00:42There's also a cap for each candidate, so an $800,000 cap for each candidate to spend

00:49during their campaign.

00:50Now, that might seem like quite a lot, but it's actually a lot less than what some of

00:54the Teal Independents, for example, spent in their last election.

00:59And the reason that they don't like these laws is, firstly, that they say they weren't

01:03consulted but, secondly, they say that they're at a disadvantage because they can spend $800,000

01:10and that's it, whereas a Labor candidate or a Liberal candidate can spend the same amount

01:16but also benefit from money that is spent through general Liberal Party signage or Labor

01:22Party signage.

01:24So they say that these laws have been stacked to benefit the major parties.

01:29We've heard from Helen Haynes, who's a member for Indi.

01:32She could be quite crucial in the hung parliament, if there is one, or a minority government.

01:38She says that she wants to see these laws looked at again.

01:42We've also heard from David Pocock, the Independent Senator today, who says that he would like

01:47to see these laws looked at again should it come to an ex-parliament.

01:52I've seen a stitch-up between the major parties on electoral reform late last night in the

01:56Senate.

01:57They want more money from taxpayers, they want to limit competition in elections, but

02:02they don't want to hold themselves to a higher standard and have truth in political advertising

02:06laws.

02:07They're very happy to shelve that part of the legislation.

02:10David Pocock there.

02:11And Isabel, what's happening on the childcare front?

02:14Yeah, so these are laws that have just passed parliament in the last hour or so.

02:20The government calls it the three-day guarantee, or one of their universal childcare bills.

02:25Basically this is a bill that gives guaranteed access to every family which earns less than

02:30$530,000, so most people.

02:35Those families are getting access to at least three days subsidised childcare a week.

02:41The way the government is doing this is by removing the activity test, and we've heard

02:47earlier from the Early Childhood Minister, Anne Ali, who explained this.

02:52What it basically does, Patricia, is it replaces the activity test, and parents out there who

02:58have tried to access subsidised care will know that they have to pass an activity test

03:03in order to be eligible to subsidise that care.

03:06It means that every child in Australia can now access those really transformative benefits

03:11of early childhood education and care, and it is good policy, it was recommended by the

03:14PC Review, a number of reviews, and has strong, strong support from across the sector.

03:23Anne Ali there, and that was going to be an election promise, actually, that Labor made.

03:27They ended up bringing forward the bill, rushing it through in what seems to be, the vibe is

03:33very much last day of school vibe, but seems to be the last sitting day of this parliamentary

03:39term potentially before an election is called.

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