After 30 bond companies refused to pay Trump’s nearly $700 million ordered by the court,the text message was clear:“Keep your filthy hands off Trump Tower!”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and senior minister Don Farrell have turned their sights on a group of crossbenchers in a debate over big money in politics.
The election reform package would create a big change in how campaigns are funded and politicians engage in politics. But achieving consensus will not be straightforward.
Despite his $117 million buying a solitary Senate seat,the sheer scale of Clive Palmer’s advertising blitz set a template for any rich-lister who wants to sway an election result.
The Albanese government’s planned changes to rules governing political donations are long-overdue reforms that should introduce more transparency into the murky world of political access and influence.
Labor has cited mining magnate Clive Palmer spending hundreds of millions on recent federal elections as grounds for its move to clamp down on donations.
An individual,company or third-party activist group who could currently contribute an unlimited amount to a campaign will be outlawed from giving huge sums to parties.
Labor and the Coalition could be barred from using cash donated by their investment organisations to help fund election campaigns if an independent review panel’s recommendations are adopted.
Lobbyists and industry groups have ramped up their payments to the major political parties,extending their influence.
Total donations and other income to all political parties for the latest year came to about a quarter of a billion dollars. And that’s not even an election year.
The support for both major parties came as a parliamentary inquiry urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to ban advertisements for online bets.