Election spending spree eroding trust: senator

AN ELECTION campaign spending "arms race" is leading the two main political parties to rely more heavily on donations from businesses, wealthy individuals and interest groups, eroding public trust in the political system, the Special Minister for State, John Faulkner, says.

Releasing a green paper on electoral law reform yesterday, Senator Faulkner said campaign fund-raising in recent years had created perceptions that donors were able to exert undue influence over politicians.

"The perception of undue influence can be as damaging to democracy as undue influence itself," Senator Faulkner said.

"It undermines confidence in our processes of government, making it difficult to untangle the motivation behind policy decisions.

"Electors are left wondering if decisions have been made on their merits."

Senator Faulkner said the Federal Government was determined to have legislation regulating election funding in place before the next federal poll and was considering measures ranging from banning donations to boosting taxpayer funding.

The green paper argues that donations, campaign spending and public funding are all linked as spiralling spending on electioneering means public funding accounts for just 20 per cent of the Labor and Liberal parties' financial resources.

It estimates the ALP's campaign spending has increased from $4.1 million in 1984 to $19.4 million in 2004 while the Liberal Party's spending rose from $4.2 million to $22 million.

After taking inflation into account, this represented real increases of 116 per cent and 136 per cent, respectively.

The paper says spending by political parties could be capped, reducing the incentive to raise money from private donations.

The paper points to the British system where parties cannot spend more than £20 million ($45 million) in the year before an election and to the US where parties can agree to limit spending in return for public funding.

Caps could be imposed on the size of donations with a view to reducing the influence of large donors. Donations from property developers, organisations that seek government contracts, lobbying firms or tobacco, alcohol and gaming companies could be banned.

Alternatively, all private donations could be banned in conjunction with increased public funding.

The paper says a key challenge is the growing influence of so-called third parties - interest groups that spend significant sums campaigning - such as the ACTU which funded advertisements against the former Howard government in the lead-up to the 2007 election.

Senator Faulkner said the Government would consider public comments on the paper. He would also continue discussions with state and territory governments about similar reforms at a state level.

A spokeswoman for the NSW Premier, Nathan Rees, said he welcomed the green paper because he was committed to making his Government more transparent and accountable.

Quote: "The perception of undue influence can be as damaging to democracy as undue influence itself," Senator Faulkner said. Unquote.

The argument that the two parties Lib/Lab represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the Australian people can 'throw the rascals out' at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy?

Chijoff fined $750 over bogus leaflets

The estranged husband of former Liberal candidate for Lindsay Karen Chijoff has been fined $750 for his role in a bogus leaflet drop in the hotly contested federal electorate.

Greg Alex Chijoff, 44, last week pleaded guilty to distributing unauthorised election material in the lead-up to last November's federal election.

Downing Centre Local Court Magistrate Ian Barnett fined the IT engineer $750 plus court costs of $70, reducing the maximum $1,000 penalty in recognition of the personal consequences of his actions.

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Racist escapes conviction over 'disgusting' fake leaflets incident
A Sydney magistrate has told a man who escaped conviction over the distribution of fake leaflets during last year's federal election campaign there was national disgust over the incident.

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800 face charges for donations

THE state's election watchdog has authorised the Crown Solicitor to prosecute 800 donors who made almost $8 million in political donations to candidates and parties for last year's NSW election but failed to declare them.

The 800 include many of Australia's biggest companies, which have given between $1525 and $543,000 each - and they face fines of $11,000 for each offence.

The action provides further evidence that the state's political donations reporting system is a shambles, as official records reveal that the Premier, Morris Iemma, has declared he got no donations for last year's election despite 26 donors - including developers and clubs - naming him as a recipient of almost $180,000 in their own declarations. This is $5000 more than Mr Iemma declared he received in political donations for the previous election in 2003.

The NSW Election Funding Authority found the donors' alleged breaches of electoral laws after its newly computerised database highlighted mismatches in donors' and recipients' declarations. The authority refused to disclose names, but sources say that the Manildra Group of Companies, the ethanol manufacturer, tops the list, after allegedly failing to declare more than $500,000 in donations. The Chinese developer Kingold Group allegedly did not declare more than $220,000 and NRMA Motoring and Services allegedly failed to disclose more than $189,000.

Beijing AustChina Technology allegedly failed to declare about $120,000. This is the privately owned, China-based communications company whose owner, Ian Tang, funded Kevin Rudd's trip to the US, Sudan, Britain and China in 2006 as well as other travel for the now Treasurer, Wayne Swan, and the Agriculture Minister, Tony Burke.

In donor declarations for the last election, Clubs NSW accounted for the most generous contribution of $47,650 in which the Premier was named, followed by Dyldam Developments Pty Ltd, which said it gave $17,999, and Holdmark Developers Pty Ltd, which reported giving $13,636.

After he became Premier in August 2005, Mr Iemma reported a plunge in his own fund-raising fortunes between the 2003 and 2007 elections. For the previous poll, he declared $172,210, but by last year, he declared nil donations to the funding authority as an individual candidate in his seat of Lakemba.

In their own separate declarations to the authority, donors reported differently, writing Mr Iemma's name in sections of the disclosure form where they had to name the "party, candidate or group of candidates" who received the donation.

Call to ban political donations after companies fail to declare

The Greens say the revelation that hundreds of companies failed to declare political donations to New South Wales political parties is proof that a a complete ban on donations is needed immediately.

The discrepancies were found when a new computer system revealed mismatches between donations declared by political parties and those declared by companies.

Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says tightening disclosure laws is not enough to fix the system.

She says it is proof that an immediate ban on political donations should be brought in immediately.

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THE proposal by the Premier, Morris Iemma, to ban all political donations would not only be a national first, but an international first, the NSW Labor Party's general secretary, Karl Bitar, told a parliamentary hearing yesterday.

Racist escapes conviction over 'disgusting' fake leaflets incident

Liberal Party member ... Jackie Kelly's husband, Gary Clark, has pleaded not guilty.

A Sydney magistrate has told a man who escaped conviction over the distribution of fake leaflets during last year's federal election campaign there was national disgust over the incident.

The leaflets, attributed to a non-existent Islamic group, were distributed in the Western Sydney seat of Lindsay days before the election.

They alleged the ALP wanted the Bali bombers forgiven and urged Muslims to vote Labor.

Two of five men charged over the incident have pleaded guilty, but 37-year-old Troy Craig had no conviction recorded.

Magistrate Pat O'Shane said although there was national disgust over the incident and he should feel ashamed, it was at the lower end of the scale of offences.

The estranged husband of Liberal candidate Karen Chijoff, Greg Chijoff, did plead guilty. His case has been adjourned until next month.

Quote: What about some community service? Washing Muslims feet!

Updated: 30 April 2008

Kelly seemed involved, court told
THE former federal Liberal MP Jackie Kelly appeared "at the face of it to be involved" in the fake leaflet affair in her western Sydney seat at the last election, a court has heard.

A volunteer who was asked to distribute the leaflets - and who faced court yesterday with four others, including the husbands of Ms Kelly, the retiring MP, and the Liberal candidate contesting the seat - might have been entitled to think it had been approved, because he had been asked to meet at Ms Kelly's home, his barrister said yesterday.

The party machine also owed its volunteers a "duty of care" not to ask them to engage in unethical and criminal behaviour, the barrister and former NSW Liberal Party vice-president, Alex Howen, told the Downing Centre Local Court.

Five men were accused of allegedly breaching federal election legislation by distributing a brochure that did not bear the names, address and authorisation of their political masters. The brochure, distributed by the Liberal Party volunteers, was claimed to have been published by the fake "Islamic Australia Federation", and bore the ALP insignia.

But the magistrate, Pat O'Shane, said the stupid and offensive action was "an ugly chapter" and the community had shown its view of it already. The Liberal Party lost the seat of Lindsay, which Ms Kelly had held with a margin of almost 10 per cent.

The court heard about 15 brochures were distributed in the St Marys area on November 20 before witnesses saw the men.

Those being prosecuted include Ms Kelly's husband, Gary James Clark, who pleaded not guilty, and the now estranged husband of the election candidate Karen Chijoff, who sought to replace Ms Kelly as the local member. Greg Alex Chijoff pleaded guilty yesterday, but disputed some of the facts.

Another senior Liberal party official, Jeffrey Michael Egan, who left the party after the scandal, also pleaded not guilty. Robert Mathew Holstein, who failed to appear in court, did not enter a plea.

Mr Howen said his client, Troy Matthew Craig, had not been a party member for about seven years, but had volunteered because he was a friend of Ms Chijoff's.

Mr Howen said Craig was asked to come to Ms Kelly's and Clark's home, where he saw the brochure for the first time.

"He is entitled to think that this was all approved. The federal member appears at the face of it to be involved," he said.

Craig thought it was stupid, crude and "dumb politically and dumb because of its content", Mr Howen said. He also realised it lacked the required authorisation but "simply went along with the distribution".

Craig had been told "the brochure was OK and everything in it is true", Mr Howen told the court.

Clark had pleaded guilty, facing a maximum $1000 fine, but Ms O'Shane discharged the case against him without recording a conviction, after hearing he would lose his job as a valuer if he received a conviction.

"That kind of material arose in a political climate of divisiveness and disharmony which had been generated over several years. It is now well recognised across the country that this was an ugly chapter in our history. The people of this country have moved on … and are trying to build an inclusive civil society and you need to be part of it," she told Craig.

Chijoff's lawyer told the court he disputed the allegations that he distributed the leaflet with the other co-accused in the suburb of St Mary, but instead pleaded guilty to distributing the leaflet by himself in Oxley Park. His case was adjourned until May 7. The cases against the others will return to court later next month.

Related:

'Charge Howard with war crimes'
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What about asking about John Howard's top three failures? War crimes against humanity. Waging illegal and degrading war against innocent citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan. Introducing draconian laws and racism.

Disabled 'deserve secret ballot'

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission says it is time for New South Wales to introduce better voting methods for people with disabilities.

The call comes after the New South Wales Electoral Commission was found to have discriminated against a blind man, who was not able to cast a secret ballot in braille during the 2004 local government elections.

Darren Fittler asked for an application in braille four weeks before the Randwick City Council election so he could vote in secret.

But the commission failed to provide him with one.

The New South Wales Administrative Decisions' Tribunal ordered the state electoral commission to pay $5,000 for hurt and humiliation suffered.

The Electoral Commission says it will offer ballot papers in braille in the future.

But Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes says New South Wales lags way behind other states and territories in providing equality.

"This is a real wake-up call for the New South Wales Electoral Commission," he said.

"Many of us have been drawing it to their attention for some years. It really sends a signal that it's about time that they let everyone have a secret ballot and not just the majority of people in New South Wales."

Quote: The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission may be right here but everyone knows that they are just another stooge and arm of government and will only push what the government will allow them to. In other words if it is too hard for them and the government won't allow it then they wouldn't take any legal action to providing equality. So I particlularly don't think there is any need whatsoever to give them any credit, at all, for the likes of this article, opposed to all the other inequality and human rights abuses, right under their noses, that they have overlooked, especially during the John Howard government. For the likes of Graeme Innes all human rights abuse and inequality is a real wake up call for Australia. Not just when someone else has to take the action. Quote: "Many of us have been drawing it to their attention for some years."