Transparency
When I was elected, I promised people in Wentworth that I would do politics differently, with more integrity and more transparency. More details on the policy changes I’m advocating for are here. You can see the questions I’ve asked in Parliamentary Question Time here.
Two of the areas I have been pushing for reform relate to transparency over lobbying and political donations.
Lobbying and Parliamentary Passes
I am strong supporter of requiring parliamentarians to disclose who they are sponsoring Parliament House access passes to.
These passes provide access to almost all areas of the building and there are currently around 2,000 people who have them. There are legitimate reasons for holding these passes, but the public deserves to know who their elected representatives have granted access passes to.
I will continue to push for disclosure to be required by all parliamentarians. In the meantime, below is the list of people who I have sponsored passes for.
Name | Organisation |
---|---|
Paul Zahra | Australian Retailer's Association |
Andrew McKellar | Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry |
Political Donations
I also believe we need more transparency over who is funding political parties and candidates.
During the 2022 federal election, the Centre for Public Integrity estimate that around 23% of political parties’ declared income was of unexplained origin. The latest annual disclosures from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) showed that at least $57 million in donations to the major political parties in 2022-23 was from unknown sources.
Currently, politicians are only required to disclose donations that exceed $16,300, and this disclosure happens at least eight months after the donations were made. Whilst the government has committed to reform that lowers this threshold to $1,000 and requires disclosure in ‘real time’, the only legislation to enact this in the current parliament has been put forward by the crossbench.
Below is the list of people who have donated to me. From 1 January 2024, all donations that I have received have been disclosed with the donor’s name, unless the donor has opted not to disclose their identity and they are not required to disclosed by the AEC. Prior to this, the donations listed below are those that are above the required AEC donation disclosure threshold.
Donation Date | Name | Donation Amount |
---|---|---|
May 2024 | Anonymous Donor | $1,500.00 |
May 2024 | Anonymous Donor | $5,000.00 |
April 2024 | William Taylor Nominees | $200,000.00 |
January 2024 | Sam Marshall | $1,500.00 |
November 2023 | David Haslingden | $25,000.00 |
November 2023 | Keep Them Honest | $45,000.00 |
December 2022 | Polka Dot Ventures | $25,000.00 |
June 2022 | Climate 200 | $118,374.69 |
May 2022 | Climate 200 | $100,000.00 |
May 2022 | Sophie Inwald | $15,000.00 |
May 2022 | Julianne Mills | $18,500.00 |
May 2022 | Alexander Turnbull | $25,000.00 |
April 2022 | Polka Dot Ventures | $50,000.00 |
April 2022 | Climate 200 | $123,204.53 |
March 2022 | Climate 200 | $119,702.62 |
March 2022 | William Taylor Nominees | $100,000.00 |
March 2022 | DCM Bluelake Partners Pty Ltd | $50,000.00 |
March 2022 | Andrew Killion | $25,000.00 |
February 2022 | Keldoulis Investments Pty Ltd | $80,000.00 |
February 2022 | Keep Them Honest | $50,000.00 |
December 2021 | Climate 200 | $175,492.75 |
November 2021 | Climate 200 | $64,999.00 |
August 2021 | Racat Uno Pty Ltd | $50,000.00 |
June 2021 | Michael Joseph | $50,000.00 |
June 2021 | Lyndell Droga | $50,000.00 |