Amendments to election financing rules in New South Wales limits campaign contributions to the only people who should fund political party campaigns – the voters, says the state’s Premier.
Hon. Barry O’ Farrell, MP, in
Sydney. Mr O’Farrell has been the Premier of New South Wales since March 2011, having been a Liberal Member of the Australian state’s Legislative Assembly since 1995. He is also the Minister for Western Sydney. He was the Leader of the Opposition for four years prior to the 2011 election and previously held several shadow portfolios. He was the State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party before entering the Legislative Assembly.
In recent years, the New South Wales Parliament has extensively examined and debated issues around the funding of election campaigns. In June 2008, the Select Committee on Electoral and Political Party Funding reported on its Inquiry in Electoral and Political Party Funding. In March 2010, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters reported on its Inquiry into Public Funding of Local Government Election Campaigns. More recently the Parliament debated the Election Funding and Disclosures Amendment Bill 2010. The N.S.W. Liberals and Nationals government believes that such extensive examination and debate on this important issue has been warranted. In the lead up to the New South Wales state general election in 2011, the N.S.W. Liberals and Nationals made clear our commitment to restore honesty
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and integrity in New South Wales politics. A vital part of this commitment was to ban corporate political donations, on which we campaigned consistently before the election.
Accountability to the people Prior to the state general election, during debate on other election funding legislation in November 2010 I gave a commitment to introduce legislation to restrict political donations to individuals – citizens on the electoral roll, the people who decide elections. The Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Amendment Bill 2011 which was passed by the N.S.W. Parliament in February 2012 was the fulfilment of this commitment. The N.S.W. Liberals and
Nationals have insisted that this state's approach to regulating political donations and expenditure
Hon. Barry O’Farrekk, MP
must ensure that those who exercise executive power in New South Wales understand that they are accountable, that we insist on having standards and that they should operate with integrity and honesty. The Election Funding,
Expenditure and Disclosures Amendment Bill 2011 contained two reforms that respond to the