The Greens will renew their campaign to ban clubs from donating to political parties when a raft of proposed electoral law reforms are debated in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Barr government is scheduled to bring forward debate on changes to the ACT's electoral laws in a bid to finally legislate the property developer donation ban it promised ahead of the 2016 election.
If passed, the laws would come into effect just weeks before the 2020 ACT election.
The legislation, which Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay tabled in late 2018, would make it an offence for a developer to make a donation if it had a planning application under assessment at that time, or had lodged three or more applications in the preceding seven years.
The laws are designed to prevent developers with connections and deep pockets from using donations to influence the ACT's legislators.
Labor hasn't accepted donations from developers since 2016, although the Liberals did receive funds from at least one development company in 2018-19.
While the ACT Greens support a crackdown on developers, they want the legislation expanded to also prohibit donations from "gambling entities", which would include clubs.
The Greens drafted amendments to broaden the ban in early 2019, arguing the gaming industry had the potential to exert influence through donations because of how significant an effect government decisions, such as changes to bet limits or poker machine numbers, could have on their operations.
Crossbencher Caroline Le Couteur's proposed changes would have also banned not-for-profit developers from bankrolling parties and capped donations at $10,000 per entity.
Mr Ramsay strongly pushed back against the Greens' proposal, warning it could freeze nearly all clubs out of political campaigns and was almost certainly unconstitutional.
The Greens hope Labor might change its stance when the same batch of amendments are debated on Thursday. Labor has long benefited from donations and other support, such as room hire, from the Canberra Labor Club.
"Political donations of this kind are a corrupting influence. You shouldn't be able to buy influence in a democracy. This has been allowed to go on for far too long," Ms Le Couteur said.
READ MORE:
Mr Ramsay's office was non-committal when asked where the ACT government stood on the Greens' amendments, saying they were still under consideration.
The Greens will also use Thursday's debate to push for truth in political advertising laws to be legislated in the ACT, just weeks before the start of the election campaign.
Under their proposed laws, the act of distributing electoral material which included a statement "purporting to be a statement of fact that is inaccurate and misleading to a material extent" would be an offence carrying a maximum fine of $8000.
A poll commissioned last month by progressive think tank the Australia Institute showed that the overwhelming majority of Canberrans, regardless of their party leanings, supported the introduction of truth in political advertising laws.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
