Senate backs donation plan
A bill to ban foreign political donations has passed the Senate, despite concerns about a loophole.
The passage of the bill in the Senate was welcomed by the Hands Off Our Charities coalition which includes groups like the Australian Conservation Foundation, following amendments that clarified and rolled back proposed new regulation on charities.
The bill will not become law until it goes from the Senate and is passed by the House of Representatives, so the Opposition has called on major parties to voluntarily stop taking foreign political donations until then.
The Greens remain concerned that the bill may create a loophole for political parties to restructure their finances to avoid state developer donation bans.
“It is not drafted in a way to actually fix the problem of corporate control of our democracy,” Greens’ democracy spokesperson Larissa Waters.
“Everybody in this place knows exactly that. I think the Australian public won’t buy this either.”