Major parties are believed to have reached agreement on a cap on party spending in South Australian election campaigns, as part of negotiations on political donation reforms.
The talks are close to being concluded, with a source telling InDaily: “There is goodwill from both sides to get an agreed piece of legislation put together.”
A meeting on Friday between Attorney-General John Rau and shadow treasurer Iain Evans, plus ALP state secretary Reggie Martin and State Liberal Party director Geoff Greene, is understood to have ticked off on a cap on political party spending, which is the central plank of the reforms.
In February, Premier Jay Weatherill told Parliament he wanted to reform the state’s political donations system to limit the ability of donors to influence policy.
Spending caps are to be at the centre of that reform. Proponents argue that a limit on the amount parties can spend during an election campaign would be a proxy cap on donations, because donations above the spending limit would have little value to the party.
However, MPs critical of the cap say it would not limit spending before an election campaign. Parties could theoretically spend heavily on campaign ads up until the cap kicked in.
At present there are no limits on private donations to South Australian political parties. The parties are required to publicly disclose only political donations over $12,400. Spending caps are an alternative to donation caps, which limit the amount that private interests can donate to parties.
Also agreed on at the negotiations was a Labor proposal to limit the mark-ups charged on fundraising dinners with ministers.
In conjunction with the spending caps, the ALP hopes to introduce some form of public funding for the parties. This is likely to cover the parties’ administrative expenses but not their campaign costs.
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Unlike in many other states, parties currently receive no public funding for election campaigns. In Victoria and New South Wales, they receive taxpayer funding based on the number of votes they win at an election. Taxpayer funding is designed to reduce the reliance of the parties on private funding, therefore reducing the power of private donors to influence policy.
Even with Liberal support, the ALP is understood to be keen to secure the votes of cross-benchers including the Greens and Family First to ensure a united front on the reforms is presented to voters.
In the past, Rau has denied that failed federal negotiations on donation reform have weighed on his mind when fleshing out state reforms. However, it is now understood the fate of the federal reforms has been a major talking point at the negotiations, with both sides working on a political strategy to sell the reforms to the public.
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