Political donations report must be released

Peter Gutwein is hiding behind the COVID-19
crisis to walk away from his Government’s long-standing promise to
reform donation laws.

Shadow Attorney-General Ella Haddad said the
Parliament would be given an opportunity tomorrow to vote on a motion calling
for the immediate release of a report on reform options.

“Tasmania has the weakest laws on political
donation disclosure in the country – an issue acknowledged by former Premier
Will Hodgman, who promised to fix these broken laws,” Ms Haddad said.

“But the report on reform options remains
on the Attorney General’s desk, where it has been since December.

“This is the trademark secrecy we’ve come to expect
from Elise Archer. Unless there is something to hide, why won’t the government
release it?

“The government has been sitting on this report for
nine months, so for the Premier to claim in Parliament today that he has been
too busy with COVID-19 is disingenuous at best.

“With yet another Liberal Party donor awarded an
exclusive government contract just last week, Tasmanians rightly are calling
out for transparency and donation reform.

“We need a system in place to ensure all Tasmanians
know who is donating to political parties and candidates and how much they
spend on campaigning.

“Fixing these broken laws is fundamental to our
democracy and to restoring trust in politics, which is why we will move a
Notice of Motion tomorrow, calling for the report’s release.

“Labor also has a Private Members Bill out
for community consultation, which would address many of these issues. If our
Bill passes, all donations to political parties, individual MPs and candidates
over $1,000 would be disclosed monthly and there would be spending caps on
election campaigns.

“This is about cleaning up politics. The public has the right to know who is donating to candidates and how much they spend on their campaigns. If the Premier won’t fix it, the Parliament must.”

Ella Haddad MP

Shadow Attorney General