Media Report-Are Weak State Donations laws About to Change?

Adam Holmes | ABC NEWS – Digital Online | August, 14,  2023

Weak laws mean most political donations in Tasmania remain a secret — that could be about to change

Very few Tasmanian political donors are known – but they could soon be brought into the public eye.

As a small state, the influence of private interests in Tasmania can be disproportionate, whether in gaming, salmon, forestry, energy or other parts of the economy.

In 2018, the gaming lobby flexed its political muscle, campaigning intensely against Labor’s now-scrapped plan to remove poker machines from pubs and clubs.

The “Love Your Local” campaign achieved its aim but raised some serious questions about who was funding political campaigns and political parties.

Tasmania is the only state or territory where the answer to this question is still unknown.

Without its own political donation laws, Tasmania reverts to Commonwealth legislation, where only donations above $14,500 are disclosed.

It means that this year, more than 83 per cent of donations to the governing Liberals were not publicly revealed, along with 90 per cent of those made to Labor.

The problem hasn’t gone unnoticed.

After his 2018 election win, then-premier Will Hodgman promised to look into the matter before the next election.

But that election has come and gone, with no changes.

Now, over five years later, the progress of election donation reform in Tasmania is as uncertain as ever.

Labor committed to $1,000 threshold

Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s government has proposed a $5,000 threshold before sources of political donations need to be disclosed.

Last year, the government passed a bill through the lower house that would set a threshold of $5,000 before the identity of a political donor was publicly disclosed.

It would bring Tasmania to the back of the pack, with the equal-weakest transparency measures in the country.

In the upper house, Labor and some independents wanted the threshold lowered to $1,000, equal with the strongest laws in the country. It means the government’s bill is facing significant changes.

Current donation threshold ($) before source needs to be disclosed

Labor’s justice spokesperson Ella Haddad said the party remained committed to the $1,000 threshold.

“We need a robust system that is honest and transparent with the Tasmanian people around how elections get run in this state,” she said.

“What we’ve got now is a reasonable start from government, that would be improved dramatically by the Labor Party’s amendments if they passed.”

Labor will also try to amend the bill to ban donations from property developers, and gaming, tobacco and liquor interests.

Another amendment could seek to introduce “truth in political advertising” laws for Tasmania.

The bill is on the sitting schedule for the upper house, after the government promised it would be debated during the spring session.

If amendments are made, they will need to be supported by the lower house.

If the government rejects the changes, it could choose to completely scrap the laws.

Funding model ‘unworkable’

Now the Rockliff government is in minority, the risk of an early election — the second since Hodgman’s commitment — is greater than ever.

Transparency in government is a key focus of new independents John Tucker and Lara Alexander, who could force the government’s hand if it tries to reject the upper house’s amendments.

The changes will also take at least 12 months to implement, meaning they would only be in place if the government served its full term and went to an election in 2025.

Nelson independent MLC Meg Webb said it would be disappointing to go through another election without donation reforms.

“Having dragged its feet in developing and progressing these laws, we were deprived of having them in place for the 2021 early election,” she said.

“Now the Rockliff government risks Tasmania going to yet another election without reforms fully implemented.”

There could be other problems with the government’s bill that need to be addressed.

It seeks to bring in a model to publicly fund political parties, as happens in other states. Candidates would receive $6 per vote if they achieve 4 per centof the vote.

But Tasmania’s Hare-Clark system means multiple members are elected per seat and major parties run five or six candidates for each of them.

Tasmanian election analyst Kevin Bonham said this model would be unworkable, and unfair, in the Hare-Clark system.

“It affects different parties to different extents, but it makes the funding skew even more in favour of the party that gets more votes,” he said.

The government was unwilling to say if it would support the proposed amendments.

Cabinet minister Felix Ellis said it was aiming to have the bill debated by the end of the year and the government remained committed to it in its current form.

*Tasmanian Liberal government has proposed a $5,000 limit

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