Labor and Liberals should pay back over $500,000 in dirty donations from Crown

Australian Greens

The Victorian Greens have said the Victorian Labor and Liberal parties should pay back the hundreds of thousands in political donations they’ve pocketed from Crown over the years.

The Greens say it would be a clear demonstration they’d learned from their mistakes, and had a commitment to stand up to gambling billionaires moving forward.

Since 2007, Victorian Labor coffers have pocketed $258,080 in donations from Crown, while Victorian Liberal coffers have pocketed $308,885. This is a whopping total of $566,965 over more than a decade.

Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam, said Crown had been able to get away with too much for too long, and that it was right for Victorians to ask why.

She added that Crown’s cosy relationship with successive state Labor and Liberal governments was the most glaring and obvious answer, demonstrated by the seemingly endless fountain of political donations provided by Crown over the years.

The Greens will tomorrow move a motion in Parliament calling on the two major parties to give back the donations they’ve pocketed from Crown since 2007.

It will also call on the government to rip up Crown’s licence, ensure the new casino and gambling commission has enough teeth to challenge billionaire corporations and reject government interference, and ban politicians and senior ministerial advisers from working in the gambling industry for five years.

As stated by Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam MLC:

“The shocking revelations from the Royal Commission into Crown have made clear that the gambling giant has been able to get away with too much, for too long.

“And it’s plain as day why that is. Crown has had a cosy relationship with state Labor and Liberal governments for years, getting their money’s worth from donations to these parties.

“Does anyone seriously believe that over half a million dollars doesn’t wield influence?

“If Labor and the Liberals really want to show Victorians they’ve learned, they’d give back the $566,965 and prove they can stand up to gambling billionaires.

“Until then it’s just dirty money.”

/Public Release. View in full here.