THE PRICE IN POLITICS
purpose is to identify serious and systemic corruption, the frequency with which the Commission and the people who come before it find themselves in the headlines further aggravates the already poor state of affairs in our State. The potency of the
“The challenges faced by all are fundamentally the same; the ultimate goal is to have a regulatory system in place that is just, fair and equitable and maintains the confidence of the voters. ”
Commission, both as a statutory body, and as a character in the public narrative, has exposed several dishonest politicians and public officials.
The impact of its power is perhaps best demonstrated by the memory lapse on the part of our former Premier, Barry O’Farrell. Having forgotten he was a gifted a bottle of Penfolds Grange, the ICAC was able to call into serious question his credibility, not just as a witness in its hearings, but also in the minds of the public. This resulted in his resignation as Premier and untimely exit from politics. What options therefore do Governments, political parties, individual Members of Parliament and their constituents have to ensure a fair, equitable, and honest interplay between the represented and government? Upon the election of O’Farrell’s Coalition government in 2011,
a Five Point Action Plan was announced to address corrupt dealings. Among the reforms were: •
A strengthening of the ICAC laws,
• • •
Improved whistleblower protections,
election campaign finance laws reforms, and
an increased regulatory framework for lobbyists. In this article, I choose to only look at two areas of legislative reform, namely election campaign finance and the regulation of lobbyists.
Electoral Campaign Finance Reforms
Under the previous Labor Government in New South Wales, reforms of the political donations laws had begun with bans being imposed upon donations by discrete classes of donors. Tobacco industry
Above: The New South Wales Parliament Building in Sydney, Australia.
businesses, liquor and gambling organisations and property developers were all sanctioned classes.
The rationale for these reforms was the perceived propensity of these groups to seek to gain a commercial advantage from government through political donations. These organisations also have significant pools of funds that could be used to sway the decision making process. Accordingly, it was deemed fair that controls be put in place to limit their potential influence. Additionally in 2010, further reforms were introduced by the then Labor Government that imposed individual donations caps and a limit on election campaign expenditure of
The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Three | 169
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