Greens MP Jamie Parker today gave notice of a Bill to stop parties disguising the source of donations after revelations the NSW Liberal Party may have received illegal and tainted money through associated entities.
The Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Amendment (Restrictions on Political Donations) Bill 2014 will make it illegal for entities such as the Millennium Forum or the Free Enterprise Foundation to channel or launder donations to political parties. The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating illegal election donations to the NSW Liberal Party through these entities.
The Bill will ensure that donations are only made directly to political parties, rather than associated entities. It will also be illegal for a person or entity to funnel a donation to a political party. Parties will be made responsible for tracing donations to their sources, and certifying that they are legal donors.
Mr Parker said: “The Liberal party has been caught trying to cleanse their tainted donations through dodgy front organisations. If there are to be corporate donations, then at the very least, the people of NSW should know where they came from.
"The practice of attempting to sanitise illegal donations must come to an end and the only way to achieve it is to ban the shell companies and organisations that have been exposed by evidence before ICAC.
MAY 07, 2014 3:26 PM
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