WEBVTT - Who are Australia’s biggest political donors?

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<v Speaker 1>From Schwartz Media. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven AM.

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<v Speaker 1>Tens of millions of dollars in dark donations to political

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<v Speaker 1>parties have renewed calls for election funding reform. The major

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<v Speaker 1>parties received over one hundred and forty million dollars in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty three to twenty four, with close to half

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<v Speaker 1>of that undisclosed, and even the donations we do know

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<v Speaker 1>about are only just now being reported, in some cases

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen months after they were made. The Albanezi government has

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<v Speaker 1>been proposing to reform the system, but as it negotiates

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<v Speaker 1>the finer details, independents and minor parties are worried the

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<v Speaker 1>proposal is a stitch up that would benefit the major

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<v Speaker 1>parties at their expense. Today National correspondent at the Saturday

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<v Speaker 1>Paper Mike Sekham on Australia's biggest political donors and the

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<v Speaker 1>roadblocks to reform. It's Wednesday, February five. So, Mike, the

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<v Speaker 1>Australian Electoral Commission has just released the list of who

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<v Speaker 1>donated what in Australian politics. For the past year. You've

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<v Speaker 1>been digging into it, having a look following the money.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell me what you've learned.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I guess the first thing we always look for

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<v Speaker 2>is where the big money donors line up, right, so

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<v Speaker 2>some familiar faces. Of course I looked for Gina Reinhart

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<v Speaker 2>for example. So Gina Reinhart's Hancock prospecting gave around five

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<v Speaker 2>hundred thousand dollars to various branches of the Liberal National Party.

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<v Speaker 2>And this of course helps make some sense of you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the extent to which we've seen and cozying up to her.

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<v Speaker 3>And at the end of last week, Peter Dutton squeezed

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<v Speaker 3>in a trip to Western Australia for Gina ryan Hart's birthday.

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<v Speaker 2>Party, notably flying across the country from Canberra to West

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<v Speaker 2>in Australia on the eve of a vital by election,

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<v Speaker 2>I might add, so he could attend her birthday party

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<v Speaker 2>for one hour before flying all the way back again.

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<v Speaker 3>Maybe Dutton's just a mega fan of Guy Sebastian, who's

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<v Speaker 3>sang the national anthem at Gena's party.

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<v Speaker 2>More recently, of course, we've seen Reinhardt come back from

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<v Speaker 2>meetings with Donald Trump and Elon Musk at Mary Lago

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<v Speaker 2>advocating that the Australia set up a Department of Government

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<v Speaker 2>Efficiency like the one that's being set up under Musk

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<v Speaker 2>to slash government spending. Well, guess what.

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<v Speaker 4>Peter Darton has appointed Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians just

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<v Speaker 4>into sorry Nampagina price to a new government efficiency folio

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<v Speaker 4>with cutting the fat and the fat cats.

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<v Speaker 2>Interestingly, Anthony Pratt, another of our billionaires, showed up on

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<v Speaker 2>the register. He's another one who spent New Year at

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<v Speaker 2>Mara Lago with Donald Trump and with Scott Morrison and

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<v Speaker 2>with Gina Reinhardt.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually, at one point taps Pratt's shoulder in a warm way.

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<v Speaker 5>Trump's son Don Jor was just behind them. You can

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<v Speaker 5>see that at some point in the foot edge.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it turns out that Pratt has dropped a million

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<v Speaker 2>dollars into the Labor Party.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, okay, So what do we know Mike about the

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<v Speaker 1>relationship between Anthony Pratt and Anthony ABENEZI.

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<v Speaker 2>Look, to me, this suggests not particular personal loyalty, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm sure they get on and everything, But it suggests

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<v Speaker 2>to me that Anthony Pratt sees value in backing winners,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, which is what the Labor government looked to

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<v Speaker 2>be when the Pratt donations were made. So some sharp

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<v Speaker 2>observers have noted that just a few weeks after that pledge,

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<v Speaker 2>Anthony Albanezi attended a private function organized by Pratt at

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<v Speaker 2>his home in Melbourne, with Katie Perry providing the entertainment.

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<v Speaker 5>The invitation in part reading Anthony Pratt looks forward to

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<v Speaker 5>welcoming you on Saturday night for dinner to celebrate Australia's

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<v Speaker 5>food and beverage manufacturing industries, featuring a life performance by

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<v Speaker 5>Katie Perry.

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<v Speaker 2>But it's not just Pratt either. There were other big

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<v Speaker 2>donors to the ALP whose motivations one might suspect. For example,

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<v Speaker 2>listeners might remember that Labor was at one stage contemplating

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<v Speaker 2>a blanket ban on gambling advertising last year, and just

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<v Speaker 2>by coincidence it so happens Sports Bet donated eighty eight

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<v Speaker 2>thousand dollars to Labor, Tap Corp donated sixty five hundred dollars,

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<v Speaker 2>and Responsible Wagering so called gave sixty six thousand. It's

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<v Speaker 2>just an interesting juxtaposition I think of very large donations

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<v Speaker 2>around the time that the government is considering what it

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<v Speaker 2>will do about gambling advertising. Overall, it's worth noting that

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<v Speaker 2>the ALP and the Liberal National Party's total donations looked

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<v Speaker 2>very similar, you know, around sixty four million dollars each.

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<v Speaker 2>But there is one big difference, so my dad, which

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<v Speaker 2>is that the Conservatives don't declare donations below the compulsory

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<v Speaker 2>threshold of sixteen thousand, three hundred, which must say who

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<v Speaker 2>gave you the money, So roughly a third of their

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<v Speaker 2>donors go undeclared. Labor declares had a one thousand dollars threshold,

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<v Speaker 2>so ninety percent of their donors are declared.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, well that's the two major parties then, but what

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<v Speaker 1>about the rest of the political class. What about the independence?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, Climate two hundred, which funds the campaigns of a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of the independence received five point nine million dollars

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<v Speaker 2>in donations. Founder of Climate two hundred, Simon Homes are

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<v Speaker 2>called kicked in three hundred thousand dollars in the twenty

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<v Speaker 2>three to twenty four financial years, So that's what about

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<v Speaker 2>two percent of the total funds. Climate two hundred in

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<v Speaker 2>turn donated to various of the community independents. Zoe Daniels

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<v Speaker 2>and Monique Ryan got over just one hundred grand each.

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<v Speaker 2>Daniels and Ryan, of course, of the two that are

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<v Speaker 2>expected to have the toughest fights to hold the seats,

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<v Speaker 2>that they were at the last election. Climate two hundred

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<v Speaker 2>is also expected to donate to kick money into the

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<v Speaker 2>campaigns of about thirty community independence this year. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>they got a lot of money and they declared it

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<v Speaker 2>all which is interesting. If you put in fifty bucks

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<v Speaker 2>to Climate two hundred, they say where it came from.

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<v Speaker 2>Similar thing with the Greens, they did quite well. There's

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<v Speaker 2>a longtime Greens donor, a professional poker player called Duncan Turpey.

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<v Speaker 2>He gave nine hundred thousand to the Greens and he

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<v Speaker 2>gave another three hundred thousand to Climate two hundred. There

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<v Speaker 2>was one big absence from the register this year though,

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<v Speaker 2>and that was Clive Palmer. I mean, this is the

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<v Speaker 2>bloke who spent one hundred and twenty odd million dollars

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<v Speaker 2>at the last election and only got one seat and

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<v Speaker 2>got a candidate elected in one seat. Interestingly, he has

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<v Speaker 2>since deregistered his United Australian Party. He did that in

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty two. But I do see that Clive is

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<v Speaker 2>now starting to run ads on TV and elsewhere again

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<v Speaker 2>with a political message. Palmer has always admitted that his

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<v Speaker 2>political parties, and they've been a string of them now

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<v Speaker 2>are less concerned about winning seats than they are with

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<v Speaker 2>defeating the Labor Party, And Mike, the.

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<v Speaker 1>Thing I think is really important here is that you

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<v Speaker 1>have these big policy decisions being made and we don't

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<v Speaker 1>find out until much later that interested parties have been

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<v Speaker 1>donating around the same time. And what's more, there's undeclared

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<v Speaker 1>donations that we still don't even know about. This was

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<v Speaker 1>talked about last year as part of the government's proposed

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<v Speaker 1>electoral reforms.

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<v Speaker 2>Right absolutely, that seems like a worthy reform and it

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<v Speaker 2>would not be a hard problem to fix.

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<v Speaker 1>So why hasn't that happened? That's after the break, So, Mike,

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<v Speaker 1>there's been a lot of discussion around Albaneze's attempt to

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<v Speaker 1>limit the influence of big money in the next election.

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<v Speaker 1>Last year he tried to pass these big electoral reforms,

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<v Speaker 1>but then things went quiet.

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<v Speaker 2>So what happened, Well, in a nutshell, the proposal that

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<v Speaker 2>was put together by Don Farrell, the Special Minister of State,

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<v Speaker 2>is very complex, you know, and some of its provisions

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<v Speaker 2>things like real time reporting. He also proposed reducing the

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<v Speaker 2>disclosure threshold from almost seventeen thousand dollars down to one thousand.

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<v Speaker 2>These things were seen as good things, But there were

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<v Speaker 2>a slew of other changes. I mean, this was a huge,

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<v Speaker 2>huge package, and a number of them appeared to be

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<v Speaker 2>designed at preserving the two party duopoly. For example, there

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<v Speaker 2>was to be a cap on spending of ninety million

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<v Speaker 2>dollars by political parties right, which is fairly healthy, but

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<v Speaker 2>only eight hundred thousand non individual campaigns. So if you're

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<v Speaker 2>an independent running your individual campaign, you've got a limit

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<v Speaker 2>of eight hundred thousand. Meanwhile, the major parties can spend

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<v Speaker 2>ninety million, which would seem to put you at a

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<v Speaker 2>significant disadvantage.

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<v Speaker 1>You know.

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<v Speaker 2>There's all sorts of other complexities, like donation caps which

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<v Speaker 2>would be said at twenty thousand dollars per donor per

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<v Speaker 2>party per year. Well fair enough, you might say, but

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<v Speaker 2>the Labor Party is actually nine separate entities, so potentially

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<v Speaker 2>more than seven hundred thousand dollars could be kicked into

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<v Speaker 2>the pockets of the Labor Party. And in fact, Dohn

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<v Speaker 2>Farrell has been pretty open about the intention of this package.

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<v Speaker 2>There was one instance last year where Farrell told the

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<v Speaker 2>story about being approached by Simon Holmes, a court who

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<v Speaker 2>complained to him that the changes would lock out independent

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<v Speaker 2>challenges and Farrell reportedly replied, well, that's the fucking point.

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<v Speaker 2>So this brings us back to the last setting days

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<v Speaker 2>of November, you know, where the government was feverishly trying

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<v Speaker 2>to get a whole bunch of bills through before the

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<v Speaker 2>end of the year, and they were hoping that they

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<v Speaker 2>could get the electoral reform bill up on the votes

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<v Speaker 2>of the Liberal National Party opposition. And then the coalition

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<v Speaker 2>came to the conclusion that the changes would disproportionately benefit

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<v Speaker 2>Labor over them, so then they wouldn't vote for it.

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<v Speaker 2>So the whole thing pete it out in the Senate

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<v Speaker 2>and now it's coming back.

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<v Speaker 1>Right okay, So tell me what is Don Farrell proposing.

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<v Speaker 1>What can he do well?

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<v Speaker 2>In those final frenzied days of the last sitting, Labor

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<v Speaker 2>got support from the cross Bench to push through a

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<v Speaker 2>whole lot of bills and they did it by cutting

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<v Speaker 2>various deals and getting various promises. And one of those

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<v Speaker 2>promises at the time was that they would engage over

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<v Speaker 2>the Christmas New Year break with the cross Bench on

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<v Speaker 2>the topic of electoral reform and see if they could

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<v Speaker 2>get something together that would be broadly acceptable. This was

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<v Speaker 2>a condition imposed by Senator David Pocock, who along with

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<v Speaker 2>West Australian Independent Kate Cheney, have been sort of the

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<v Speaker 2>point people for the Independence on the subject of electoral reform.

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<v Speaker 2>But then last week they wrote a letter complaining that

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<v Speaker 2>there had in fact been no consultation with them. In

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<v Speaker 2>the letter, addressed to Albanesi and Farrell, they called for

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<v Speaker 2>the Government to split the reform bill and send the

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<v Speaker 2>less controversial parts of it, that is, you know, real

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<v Speaker 2>time disclosure, lower donation thresholds, that sort of thing. They

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<v Speaker 2>said they could get that through the Senate like that,

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<v Speaker 2>and in the meantime they said the more controversial elements

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<v Speaker 2>should go off to a Senate inquiry and then be

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<v Speaker 2>considered separately at a later date. So consultation was promised.

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<v Speaker 2>There has been no consultation with the cross Bench that

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<v Speaker 2>I can establish, and only the most limited consultation I

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<v Speaker 2>think in the form of one phone call and possibly

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<v Speaker 2>one discussion with the Greens.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, So very little consultation or negotiation so far.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, certainly not with them. In fact, I asked Farrell's

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<v Speaker 2>office last week you know what was the go and

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<v Speaker 2>his office insisted that there had been negotiations, but they

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<v Speaker 2>wouldn't say, with whom they were negotiating. The suspicion, I

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<v Speaker 2>think is pretty clear that the major parties are trying

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<v Speaker 2>to stitch up a deal here, and the Greens and

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<v Speaker 2>the miners are being left out in the coal Right.

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<v Speaker 1>And I suppose the suspicion is that if the two

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<v Speaker 1>major parties do manage to agree on this being one

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<v Speaker 1>of the only things they agree on, then the laws

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<v Speaker 1>that we ultimately end up with are going to be

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<v Speaker 1>laws that suit them, which would likely mean that there's

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<v Speaker 1>no real time disclosure of donors.

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<v Speaker 2>Right well, I don't know if we'll end up with

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<v Speaker 2>real time disclosure. It would be a great thing if

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<v Speaker 2>we did. It would be a great thing if a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of the dark money was taken out of politics.

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<v Speaker 2>But I tell you what I do know. I do

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<v Speaker 2>know that a couple of decades the share of the

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<v Speaker 2>vote going to minor parties and independence was in the

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<v Speaker 2>single digits. At the last election twenty twenty two, almost

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<v Speaker 2>a third of voters looked at Labor and the Coalition

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<v Speaker 2>and looked at what they were offering and then voted

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<v Speaker 2>for someone else. And I do suspect also that the

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<v Speaker 2>coming election we'll see a continuation of that trend away

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<v Speaker 2>from the majors, possibly to the extent where neither of

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<v Speaker 2>the big parties will be able to form a majority government.

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<v Speaker 2>So bottom line here is, despite the fact that this

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<v Speaker 2>proposed package contains some good measures, it's always worth asking

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<v Speaker 2>the old question quey bono, you know who benefits? And

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<v Speaker 2>if we end up with a bipartisan labor coalition deal,

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<v Speaker 2>it will not be in the interests of greater diversity

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<v Speaker 2>in the Parliament. Let's put it that.

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<v Speaker 5>Way, Mike.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for your time, Thank you for yours. Also

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<v Speaker 1>in the news today, the new South Wales Transport Minister

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<v Speaker 1>Joe Halen has resigned from her position following revelations about

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<v Speaker 1>the use of a taxpayer funded ministeri or car for

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<v Speaker 1>private purposes. The former minister had asked her driver to

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<v Speaker 1>take her and friends to a winery lunch on a

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<v Speaker 1>recent weekend. That trip involved a thirteen hour, four hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and forty six kilometer drive from Sydney to a holiday

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<v Speaker 1>house on the Central Coast and then a Hunter Valley

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<v Speaker 1>winery and back. Joe Halen, who will remain an MP,

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<v Speaker 1>said that while she did not break the rules, she

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<v Speaker 1>had let the public down and her actions didn't pass

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<v Speaker 1>the pub test, and US President Donald Trump has agreed

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<v Speaker 1>to pause placing tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one

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<v Speaker 1>month while the nations negotiate agreements on trade and security.

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<v Speaker 1>The last minute move came hours before a midnight deadline

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<v Speaker 1>was Judaicye hefty tariffs come into effect on goods from Mexico, Canada,

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<v Speaker 1>and China. President Trump confirmed he agreed to the pause

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<v Speaker 1>after Mexican President Claudia Schinbaum committed to sending ten thousand

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<v Speaker 1>National Guard troops to the US Mexico border. I'm Ruby Jones.

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<v Speaker 1>This is seven am. See you tomorrow.