Mr Yabsley says the changes should allow individual business and union figures to make donations in the same way as any other voters while stopping the “insidious” fundraising exposed in state corruption inquiries.
“Let anyone on the electoral roll donate,capped at a modest amount. It’s the companies,unions and employer entities that should be shut out,” he said.
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“For once,political parties would have to get off their backsides to raise the money from the individuals who actually vote,rather than rely on the traditional rivers of gold from entities.
“These reforms require Australian political parties to sever the umbilical cord with their traditional financial backers. Only then will this stain on the integrity of our democracy be addressed.”
The call comes as federal Parliament prepares to debate a bill from Attorney-General Michaelia Cash to set up a Commonwealth integrity commission. Legal experts and former judges say her plan is too weak when political decisions can be swayed by donations.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is due to hold hearings this week into former premier Gladys Berejiklian and her former partner Daryl Maguire,while the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) is investigating the state division of the Labor Party.