http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/political-donations/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/ Over the past few years, the rivers of private donations to political parties have grown into a flood of Queensland proportions. In the the past five years, including the 2007 and 2010 elections, the two major parties have enjoyed donations of over $700 million. Under the Electoral Act, large donors, and the parties they supported, have to be publicly reported through the Electoral Commission. But there are too many loopholes which seriously erode the transparency. The Rudd/Gillard governments have admitted reform is necessary, but it has apparently been put on the back burner. However, NSW Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell has come to the party. His proposed reforms will pass the parliament, as the Greens have promised to support them. When the legislation comes into force, the NSW law on private donations to political parties will be the toughest in Australia. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/#item7833 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sometimes it is difficult to work out what is going on inside people’s brains. Tony Abbott has copped plenty of deserved flak over his ludicrous defence of the Liberal Party’s decision to solicit donations not for flood victims but so that the party can run a campaign against the government’s flood tax. If his judgment has been found wanting, more questionable is the judgment of anyone who would dip into their hard-earned for a political party, when there are much important things to spend money on, such as children’s books or beer. Abbott had the easiest of outs on this issue, and messed it up completely. He could and should have said that the Liberal Party had issued the appeal for donations under its own steam and that he had spoken to the people involved and ordered them, as leader, to set aside any money raised to be handed directly and entirely to the Queensland Flood Appeal. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-just-get-rid-of-all-political-donations/ Sometimes it is difficult to work out what is going on inside people’s brains. Tony Abbott has copped plenty of deserved flak over his ludicrous defence of the Liberal Party’s decision to solicit donations not for flood victims but so that the party can run a campaign against the government’s flood tax. If his judgment has been found wanting, more questionable is the judgment of anyone who would dip into their hard-earned for a political party, when there are much important things to spend money on, such as children’s books or beer. Abbott had the easiest of outs on this issue, and messed it up completely. He could and should have said that the Liberal Party had issued the appeal for donations under its own steam and that he had spoken to the people involved and ordered them, as leader, to set aside any money raised to be handed directly and entirely to the Queensland Flood Appeal. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-just-get-rid-of-all-political-donations/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lets-just-get-rid-of-all-political-donations/#item5063 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sometimes it is difficult to work out what is going on inside people’s brains. Tony Abbott has copped plenty of deserved flak over his ludicrous defence of the Liberal Party’s decision to solicit donations not for flood victims but so that the party can run a campaign against the government’s flood tax. If his judgment has been found wanting, more questionable is the judgment of anyone who would dip into their hard-earned for a political party, when there are much important things to spend money on, such as children’s books or beer. Abbott had the easiest of outs on this issue, and messed it up completely. He could and should have said that the Liberal Party had issued the appeal for donations under its own steam and that he had spoken to the people involved and ordered them, as leader, to set aside any money raised to be handed directly and entirely to the Queensland Flood Appeal. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/where-does-get-up-get-off/ Political donations seem to be a hot agenda item. The besieged NSW Labor machine suddenly comes up with a solution to starve the Coalition of funds for the forthcoming March 2011 election. NSW Labor, long the recipient of donations for decisions suddenly thinks only 3rd parties should be allowed to spend large amounts of money on election campaigns, but under their scheme unions as well as left wing fellow travellers such as Get Up are deemed to be 3rd parties. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/where-does-get-up-get-off/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/where-does-get-up-get-off/#item4520 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sometimes it is difficult to work out what is going on inside people’s brains. Tony Abbott has copped plenty of deserved flak over his ludicrous defence of the Liberal Party’s decision to solicit donations not for flood victims but so that the party can run a campaign against the government’s flood tax. If his judgment has been found wanting, more questionable is the judgment of anyone who would dip into their hard-earned for a political party, when there are much important things to spend money on, such as children’s books or beer. Abbott had the easiest of outs on this issue, and messed it up completely. He could and should have said that the Liberal Party had issued the appeal for donations under its own steam and that he had spoken to the people involved and ordered them, as leader, to set aside any money raised to be handed directly and entirely to the Queensland Flood Appeal. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clean-up-our-electoral-laws-now/ Coalition Senator Michael Ronaldson decries the current mixed funding system of elections in his post on the Punch last week. Early last year the newly elected Government introduced the Commonwealth Electoral Amendments (Political Donations and Other Measures) Bill 2009 to the Senate to make political donations more transparent. However the bill was defeated by Liberal Senators who did not want to clean up our campaign finance system. Australia has a very clean electoral system by world standards. While we don’t hear complaints in Australia that elections have been rigged, the funding system is in need of some reform. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clean-up-our-electoral-laws-now/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clean-up-our-electoral-laws-now/#item2229 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sometimes it is difficult to work out what is going on inside people’s brains. Tony Abbott has copped plenty of deserved flak over his ludicrous defence of the Liberal Party’s decision to solicit donations not for flood victims but so that the party can run a campaign against the government’s flood tax. If his judgment has been found wanting, more questionable is the judgment of anyone who would dip into their hard-earned for a political party, when there are much important things to spend money on, such as children’s books or beer. Abbott had the easiest of outs on this issue, and messed it up completely. He could and should have said that the Liberal Party had issued the appeal for donations under its own steam and that he had spoken to the people involved and ordered them, as leader, to set aside any money raised to be handed directly and entirely to the Queensland Flood Appeal. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-pay-the-price-of-buying-access-in-a-democracy/ Can our politicians win elections based on good old-fashioned debate and sound policy, or will they continue their crass cash contests of aggressive marketing campaigns bank-rolled by the wealthy? And once in office, how can we prevent politicians coming under undue influence from donors at the expense of the interests of their constituents and the broader public? Until recently, reforming the system of political funding has been the elephant in the room for our esteemed elected representatives. They’ve been acutely aware there is a problem, but reluctant to talk about it. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-pay-the-price-of-buying-access-in-a-democracy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-all-pay-the-price-of-buying-access-in-a-democracy/#item1766 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sometimes it is difficult to work out what is going on inside people’s brains. Tony Abbott has copped plenty of deserved flak over his ludicrous defence of the Liberal Party’s decision to solicit donations not for flood victims but so that the party can run a campaign against the government’s flood tax. If his judgment has been found wanting, more questionable is the judgment of anyone who would dip into their hard-earned for a political party, when there are much important things to spend money on, such as children’s books or beer. Abbott had the easiest of outs on this issue, and messed it up completely. He could and should have said that the Liberal Party had issued the appeal for donations under its own steam and that he had spoken to the people involved and ordered them, as leader, to set aside any money raised to be handed directly and entirely to the Queensland Flood Appeal. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-emails-may-be-fake-but-the-donations-arent/ “Democracy is not cheap.” That’s what the former NSW President of the Australian Hotels Association John Thorpe had to say about our political system. He was of course referring to the fact that his industry, in the nine years to 2007, had donated a jaw dropping $3.5 million to the NSW Labor Party. And he’s just one of hundreds of big donors out to buy our democracy. Yesterday the National Audit Office released its report into the ‘Utegate’ debacle. While it found no wrongdoing by our politicians this doesn’t take away from the fact that the scandal left a sour taste in the mouths of many Australians. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-emails-may-be-fake-but-the-donations-arent/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-emails-may-be-fake-but-the-donations-arent/#item820 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sometimes it is difficult to work out what is going on inside people’s brains. Tony Abbott has copped plenty of deserved flak over his ludicrous defence of the Liberal Party’s decision to solicit donations not for flood victims but so that the party can run a campaign against the government’s flood tax. If his judgment has been found wanting, more questionable is the judgment of anyone who would dip into their hard-earned for a political party, when there are much important things to spend money on, such as children’s books or beer. Abbott had the easiest of outs on this issue, and messed it up completely. He could and should have said that the Liberal Party had issued the appeal for donations under its own steam and that he had spoken to the people involved and ordered them, as leader, to set aside any money raised to be handed directly and entirely to the Queensland Flood Appeal. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-a-truce-in-political-donations-arms-race/ Finally the secret is out – no one wants the current practice of political donations and campaign fundraising to continue. Business became sick of it long before the GFC cut their lobbying budgets. Most realised that donating became more of a risk than an advantage and most influential business people realised they could get a meeting regardless of donations. Some have even worked out that you don’t need to pay $10,000 a month for a lobbyist to get you the appointment. Politicians have grown to resent the drain on their most precious commodity – time. Time to think, time to work on policy and speeches, time to meet people without the unspoken pressure of donations and most importantly the precious remaining time to spend with family and friends.   penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-a-truce-in-political-donations-arms-race/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-a-truce-in-political-donations-arms-race/#item806 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sometimes it is difficult to work out what is going on inside people’s brains. Tony Abbott has copped plenty of deserved flak over his ludicrous defence of the Liberal Party’s decision to solicit donations not for flood victims but so that the party can run a campaign against the government’s flood tax. If his judgment has been found wanting, more questionable is the judgment of anyone who would dip into their hard-earned for a political party, when there are much important things to spend money on, such as children’s books or beer. Abbott had the easiest of outs on this issue, and messed it up completely. He could and should have said that the Liberal Party had issued the appeal for donations under its own steam and that he had spoken to the people involved and ordered them, as leader, to set aside any money raised to be handed directly and entirely to the Queensland Flood Appeal.