SUBJECT/S: Donations Reform.
BRENDAN O’CONNOR, SHADOW MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Well firstly, before I go to the matter that I have called the conference for, can I just say on behalf of Labor that of course Australians are shocked by reports of the horrific attack in Nice, France. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of those who have lost their lives and our thoughts are with the injured. In this new moment of sorrow, we stand in solidarity with our great friends, the French people, against this terrible violence – a crime aimed at the innocent people of France, perpetrated on their National Day. And as I say, I’m sure I share the thoughts of all Australians with those sentiments.
May I now just move to the matter that I’d asked you to come along for today and I thank you for your attendance.
There are reports in the newspapers today that the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has donated $1 million to the Liberal Party. I think it is incumbent on the Prime Minister to make clear, confirm, whether or not he has made such a donation. The Labor Party is concerned about the current electoral laws and the current political donation system.
We have, before the election, proposed changes to the political donation system in order to ensure that there is greater transparency for candidates in a federal election.
For that reason we agreed that it would be reasonable for the disclosure donation amount to fall from $13,000 to $1,000. We believe any money over $1,000 should be disclosed. We also believe that foreign donations should be prohibited. Anonymous donations over $50 should be prohibited, and so too should be donation splitting, very much akin to the way in which the Liberal Party received donations from the Free Enterprise Foundation.
The Liberal Party has form when it comes to failing to properly disclose donations. The Free Enterprise Foundation is one in question where the electoral commission has refused to provide $4.3 million to the Liberal Party because Arthur Sinodinos and indeed other Liberal identities refused to cooperate and to provide information as to who were the donors to the Free Enterprise Foundation, a Liberal Party front that was being used to syphon money to the Liberal Party.
We now, of course, have the allegation that the Prime Minister has made a $1 million donation to the Liberal Party during the course of the election campaign. This is something I think that is in the public interest. Malcolm Turnbull, for the very first time went to the Australian people to seek their support for the top job. This was his first occasion where he was running for the most senior position in Australia, namely that of the Prime Minister.
The fact that he may have donated $1 million in the course of an election campaign I do believe is in the public interest, and it is for him now to disclose whether or not that is true. Was it a donation? Did he pay it in instalments, or pay it in whole? Or was it more like a Trump-like loan to the Liberal Party. I think it’s fair that the Australian people understand exactly the form of support the Prime Minister provided to his party. What we do know however is that the Liberal Party was bereft of policies. We do know that under the slogan “jobs and growth” there were literally no policies that would provide support for the Australian people and particularly for the 700,000 or more Australians that are looking for work. We are now to understand that he provided a $1 million donation. He should explain whether in fact it was a donation and if it wasn’t a donation he should explain whether it was a loan because that is relevant to the Australian people. What we do call upon, other than the Prime Minister being upfront with the Australian people is we also call upon the Liberal Party to join with Labor to ensure the joint standing committee on electoral matters not only examines the proposals that Labor put forward at the election but also examine the issue of real time disclosure of donations in order to make recommendations to the parliament, whether in fact we need to introduce real time donations.
Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: If it is confirmed the Prime Minister did donate the $1 million to the Liberal Party election campaign, what is inherently wrong with that?
O’CONNOR: I think the Australian people would want to know whether the candidate that is running for the top job did provide $1 million to win that position. I think people have a right to know whether in fact Malcolm Turnbull was able to find $1 million to provide to the Liberal party during the course of that campaign and I think it’s incumbent upon him now to say whether in fact it was a donation. They also have the right to know whether it was in instalments or in one amount.
They also have a right to know whether in fact it wasn’t a donation and whether it in fact was more like a Trump like loan to the Liberal Party where the Prime Minister would expect to be paid back that money. You have a Liberal Party now that has a cloud over its dealings with political donations with the Free Enterprise Foundation in a situation where they are not receiving public monies for previous elections because of their failure to cooperate with the electoral commission. You have a Liberal Director that is in jail for embezzlement of $1.5 million of money not just from Liberal Party Donors, but also public money that would have been provided to the Victorian division of the Liberal Party. I think it’s about time now that the Prime Minister took a leadership position in relation to the political donation system of this country. He can start by explaining whether or not he donated that million dollars or not. He should also consider and support Labor’s position to consider real time donations and also join with Labor to support the proposals that we put forward before the election, namely reducing the disclosure donation threshold from $13,000 to $1,000, also support the prohibition on foreign donations, prohibition on anonymous donations of $50 and donations splitting, which is just a sneaky way of avoiding proper accountability. These things are important to the Australian people and I think it is incumbent on the Prime Minister to explain himself.
JOURNALIST: Why is it important to the Australian people if they are donating $1 million to their -
O’CONNOR: I think –
JOURNALIST: What’s the conflict of interest?
O’CONNOR: Well do you want me to answer your question or have an argument with you?
JOURNALIST: Yes, I’m just wondering as you haven’t explained what the conflict of interest is?
O’CONNOR: I haven’t actually gone to the issue, I’ve said that the Australian people would expect honesty from their Prime Minister. The fact that for the first time ever he was actually running for this position – I mean we know that he got the position by knifing Tony Abbott, but this was the first time he was actually putting himself to the Australian people and I do believe that people want to know whether in fact donations of such a scale are being provided by candidates seeking office in this country. And so for that reason I think it is incumbent upon him to make that disclosure. He should show leadership, it shouldn’t be just what is lawful, it should be what is ethical. And I believe it is ethical for a candidate for Prime Ministership to explain whether or not they provided $1 million to the political party during the election campaign before the election. I also think that the Prime Minister has shown such a lack of regard when it comes to electoral reform, he should turn his mind to this. He should consider supporting Labor Party reforms in this area because the current arrangements are not sufficiently transparent and candidates are not sufficiently accountable to the Australian people. And the one way he could do that is to support the Labor Party reforms and he could also, as I say today, confirm whether or not he has donated $1 million to the Liberal Party or whether in fact it’s a Trump like loan to the Liberal Party which he expects to be paid back. Any further questions?
JOURNALIST: Going to ethical donations there, will there be any reconsidering of taking donations from gambling or pokies outlets by the Labor Party?
O’CONNOR: We make those decisions from time to time, as you know we no longer receive any money from tobacco companies. We did that because whilst it’s lawful, we believe that there was an ethical consideration there and we’ll make decisions from time to time and that may include other areas where we may not receive donations, at this point there is no decision in that area. But we do have reforms that we’ve put forward in good faith to the Australian people and I do believe they resonate within this country and namely starting to reduce the actual threshold of disclosure. I think it’s important the Australian people know exactly where the money is coming from, and that’s why it’s so important I think today that the Prime Minister make clear whether or not he donated $1 million. I think the Australian people deserve to know that.
JOURNALIST: Do you not think that taking money from gambling or pokies outlets and stuff like that is just as ethically questionable as -
O'CONNOR: Well I think they’re all arguable, but the fact is that gambling is not illegal. There is illegal gambling that goes on in this country and there is also legal gambling. Many Australians pursue gambling as a past time and it can be done responsibly and it can be done in a manner that is not injurious to people. We also know however, for many it’s a scourge, it ruins people’s lives and certainly I believe we all have a responsibility to ensure we remove the likelihood of people being badly affected by their addiction to gambling and I think therefore there should be policies in place that attend to those matters. But today, I think there are reform that are already proposed by Labor, we made those announcements before the election, we’ve called upon the Prime Minister to look at electoral reform, he refuses. And again today we hear that he may well have donated or lent or provided a loan to the Liberal Party of $1 million and we’d like to know exactly what the detail is in respect to that matter and I think the Australian people deserve to know the detail too. Any further questions? Thanks very much.