AUSTRALIANS would have to cast their minds back to the administration of Malcolm Fraser, to when ethics and morality were front and centre of political discourse and when people respected politicians, believing they only acted in our best interest.
Oh, how the standards have dropped, to the point where people openly question their morality over political donations and active role in seeking them makes us all feel deeply uncomfortable.
Parliament recently supported a motion put forward by the greens to begin a senate select committee looking into the influence of political donations on public policy, but disappointingly the coalition and Pauline Hanson voted against but the ALP supported, which is odd considering the millions it gets from unions.
It has not always been the case that politicians were involved in fundraising, In Malcolm Fraser’s biography “The Political Memoirs” it states that since Robert Menzies there was a strict rule that ministers were not to be involved in fundraising, nor were they to know the identity of donors.
Tragically that is not the case today, with ministers directly involved in fundraising. Former prime minister Fraser said “It has to be corrupting, if not in the strict legal sense then in the sense of improper influencing of decisions”.
A senior lecturer in politics at the University of NSW in Canberra, Dr Belinda Edwards, in recent analyses said only about 15 per cent of political donations can be traced and the public has no knowledge what influence donations have, but an ongoing Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation, where an irrigator allegedly paid $10,000 to the National Party might shine a light.
Major unprecedented changes were made to the 2012 Barwon darling water sharing plan that allegedly gave a huge advantage to that irrigator which, if proven correct, will shine a light on what money will buy.
New England voters might have to vote three years in a row if Barnaby Joyce is found to have not been a Australian citizen and running a political campaign is not cheap.
Tony Windsor in the last Federal election in New England reportedly spent $450,000 and Barnaby Joyce closer to a million – these funds have to come from somewhere.
Political party membership has rapidly decreased in the last decade, so reliance on big business for donations is increasingly important.
The Australia Institute think tank recently released analyses that said between 2006 and 2016 close to $50 million was donated and keep in mind this is from the 15 per cent that can be traced, goodness knows what the real figure is.
People are losing faith in democracy with young people recently surveyed saying they are not even sure democracy is the best system.
It is incumbent upon all of us to hold political parties to account and restore community confidence, and perhaps the establishment of a federal ICAC.
Public funding of all elections might be a good first step.
