Election campaigns: corporates versus cake stalls

Election campaigns remain corporates versus cake stalls

Despite promises to make election campaigns more democratic, the "corporates versus cake stalls" system remains, says Greens Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons.

"By ignoring Green proposals for full disclosure of the source of donations above $1000, the Government has missed a major opportunity in terms of fairness. Instead the public will continue to be in the dark about who is paying the piper."

The danger of a party being in effect "owned" by a corporation or wealthy individual remains, Ms Fitzsimons says.

"Justice Minister Mark Burton waxed lyrical in the House today about a 'level playing field' but then in answer to a supplementary question from me seemed to admit bumps in the field.

A requirement in the new proposal that parties declared donations over $20,000 within a fortnight of receiving them made sense but it meant little when the identity of that donor could be kept secret. Secretive trusts and anonymous donors could still fund the National and Labour parties in the 2008 campaign, while more democratically-based parties run sausage sizzles and cake stalls.

In 2005, National received $1.7m from shadowy trusts while Labour received $300,000 from anonymous donors, according to Ms Fitzsimons.

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