G'day. The following press release was sent to us by Brad Pederson (pictured) of Democracy Watch. The racket of political donations, or 'officially sanctioned bribery' as it seems to me, is a truly non-partisan issue and should concern all Webdiarists. Best of luck with this initiative Brad. Hamish.

A coalition of senior academics and prominent judicial and political identities from across the political spectrum have swung behind a new organisation launched today that is focused on "cleaning-up" Australia's political donations systems. The organisation has also launched a comprehensive website www.democracywatch.com.au [1].

The founder and president of Democracy Watch, Brad Pedersen, said "We are committed to achieving sweeping reforms to dramatically curb the excessive influence of 'big interest' money in Australian politics at federal, state, and local levels. The role of Democracy Watch will be to expose the connections between government policies and particular donations, inform the public of the threat these donations pose, and we will lobby for a Political Donations National Summit to develop a national strategy to 'clean up' the donations system.

Key figures supporting the organisation include a Professor of Law, a Professor of Politics, a retired judge, as well as prominent political identities from across the political spectrum; the Independent Federal MP for Calare - Peter Andren, Green's MP Lee Rhiannon, the Australian Democrats MP Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, barrister and former Labor MP Kevin Ryan, the former NSW and Federal President of the Liberal Party and former Chairman of the Australian Stock Exchange John Valder, and the Mayor of Manly and former State MP,  Dr Peter Macdonald. They are all members of Democracy Watch's Political and Academic Advisory groups.

The organisation was founded and is headed by Brad Pedersen, an independent Manly councillor who has led the fight against developer donations in local government circles. Clr Pedersen authored the Charter of Political Reform for local government, a set of principles to ensure the full disclosure of campaign donations and the banning of developer donations. His own council, Manly Council, was the first to adopt these reforms.

Clr Pedersen said, "Financial donations to political parties and candidates are one of the most corrupting forces in our political system. This is the dark underbelly of our political system. These donations are a serious threat to our democracy. The policy outcomes of all our governments risk being improperly influenced by huge corporations, powerful trade unions and wealthy individuals. Some donors even secure their influence by making equally enormous donations to both parties.

"Every year the major parties collect what amounts to many millions of dollars, much of it through dubious means. Creative accounting and shady 'front organizations' are used to allow rich and powerful donors to mask their identity. The current legislative framework is wholly inadequate, riddled with loopholes and invites corruption. The time has come to seriously confront this cancer in our political system.

"Nobody should believe this money is donated because of any altruistic enthusiasm for democracy. Even if there is no direct undertaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, clearly it's about buying influence. These donations are predominantly just bribes - to think otherwise is naive. It must be exposed for what it is. The control of parliament by political parties riddled with donor cash should not be seen as anything less than the breakdown of fundamental aspects of our democracy. It is no secret that the major parties are being strangled by these donations. They need to be saved from themselves.

"This issue is too important to be left to the political parties to solve. They have always resisted reforms that threaten their privilege. The major parties created the campaign finance laws and they are its beneficiaries. It is a blatant conflict of interest. Nothing will change unless the public demands it. Ultimately it is the Australian people who are responsible for the leadership we get and the institutional framework that we give our politicians to play out their battles. The time has come for the public and the media to launch a sustained attack on this system of vote buying and the corruption of our democracy. It is with this aim in mind that DEMOCRACY WATCH has been launched.

Professor of Politics at ANU, Marian Sawer AO, a member of the Democracy Watch Academic Advisory Group, said,"The role of political donations in the Australian electoral system offends every democratic principle. I hope Democracy Watch will help focus public attention on the issue and pave the way to reform."

Federal Independent MP Peter Andren said, "Unless we introduce a cap on candidate spending at local, state and federal levels, then we risk becoming the second best democracy after the US that money can buy".

Retired judge Peter Dent QC said, "I urge the legal fraternity to throw its weight behind Democracy Watch and its call for a national summit to overhaul the current laws. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said, "It's time to end corporate donations to political parties and return democracy to the people."

The Australian Democrats Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans MLC said, "Australian democracy is under threat, with powerful individuals dominating single parties and single parties turning Parliaments into rubber stamps for Ministerial deals. Transparency in donations is vital."

Dr Peter Macdonald, Mayor of Manly and previously an Independent State MP said, "Democracy is a fragile and vulnerable institution and needs to be protected. As campaign costs rise, so the need to solicit funding rises to just 'stay in the race'. As we drift steadily towards the US political system, political influence and access is being "purchased" by large private donations."

Prominent Melbourne legal academic Joo-Cheong Tham said, "The formation of Democracy Watch is very welcome. It will hopefully pave the way to a cleaner and more democratic politics."

Dr Graeme Orr, Associate Professor specialising in political law said that "Money in politics is very lightly regulated in Australia, much less so than comparable democracies like UK, Canada and NZ.  Many nations have laws to limit election expenditure and donations but these are unlimited in Australia, even the US is less 'laissez-faire'."

Brad Pedersen said, "The issues and legalities concerning money politics is complex but a National Summit, as proposed by Democracy Watch, would have to at least consider the following reform proposals; All donations to be immediately publicly declared. The original source of those donations be declared. Donations restricted to an upper limit of $2000. Donations from foreign entities to be banned. Campaign expenditure limits. Increased penalties for breaching funding laws. Adequate resources to be provided to the AEC to effectively enforce political funding regulations and much greater independence and 'teeth'given to the AEC. Party donations disclosures to be accompanied by a report from an accredited independent auditor.

"One immediate issue Democracy Watch is mobilising against is the federal government's attempts to raise the disclosure threshold from $1500 to $10,000. This effectively means an individual, corporation or union could donate $9,999 to every state, territory and federal branch of a major party without the source of any of these donations having to be disclosed. That would total $89,991. This proposal is appalling and it must be stopped.