Bill capping individual donations at $50,000 passes parliament

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Parliament has passed legislation overhauling political donation laws and expanding access to childcare in what may have been the final sitting day of the 47th parliament. There's growing speculation tonight the Prime Minister is preparing to call the election within weeks.

Transcript

00:00The architect of the electoral funding overhaul.

00:05The whole process pushes downward pressure on the cost of elections so ordinary Australians have a chance to be elected.

00:13And one of its chief critics.

00:15That is absolute BS.

00:17Clash in the corridors over new laws Labor says will level the playing field.

00:22I think it's a very fair system.

00:25The Teals livid, claiming they've been sidelined by the two major parties.

00:30The only people that will be able to participate in elections will be union members.

00:35That is completely untrue. Unions are subject to exactly the same rules.

00:41Or members of the Labor Party.

00:43Stop changing your story.

00:45The legislation caps political donations and campaign spending.

00:49$90 million for political parties and $800,000 for candidates in individual seats.

00:56In 2019 my campaign cost about $1.2 million which is a horrific number.

01:02But we calculated Tony Abbott spent about $2.5 million.

01:05The matter was resolved in the affirmative.

01:08The laws passed followed in quick succession by Labor's childcare changes.

01:13Guaranteeing three days of care for more kids.

01:16On that bill the Coalition voted no.

01:19Labor is feeling confident after what it sees as a successful fortnight in this building.

01:24Notching up legislative wins and scrapping more controversial bills from its agenda.

01:29There's now a growing sense that parliament won't return before the Prime Minister calls an election.

01:35An interest rate cut on Tuesday would only give Labor a further boost.

01:40A few hints perhaps in question time.

01:42My question, my last in this place.

01:45An upbeat Prime Minister sharpening his attack lines.

01:48We're delivering on the cost of living. They only care about their mate's cost of lunching.

01:53This Prime Minister and this government we're living in a parallel universe.

01:57After question time Peter Dutton rehearsed his own campaign pitch.

02:01We will clean up this government's mess and we will get our country back on track.

02:08The next time they meet could be on the campaign.

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