ACCOUNTABILITY ROUND TABLE CALLS FOR ACTION ON POLITICAL CORRUPTION, DONATIONS
The Accountability Round Table seeks public commitments from all parties and candidates to establish:
- a comprehensive independent integrity system for the Commonwealth incorporating a general purpose Commonwealth anti-corruption agency, which includes educative, research and policy functions and which is provided with all necessary powers and is subject to parliamentary oversight and
- an enquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission into regulation of the funding of political parties and candidates to achieve equality of access and integrity in our democratic system.
CORRUPTION
The present Commonwealth government integrity system includes Parliament (especially its committees), Courts, administrative review tribunals, Director of Public Prosecutions, oversight bodies such as the Ombudsman and the Auditor General, FOI and an independent anti corruption body, the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI). During the 1970s, Australia introduced important reforms in administrative law and the last Parliament saw some important developments. However, the Australian government integrity system is no longer up to international best practice (or even that of some Australian states). In particular, the jurisdiction of the ACLEI is seriously limited. It is confined to preventing, detecting, and investigating serious and systemic corruption issues in two Commonwealth law enforcement agencies: the Australian Federal Police and Australian Crime Commission.
DONATIONS
The Accountability Round Table’s starting premise is that the cost of election campaigns should be borne entirely by the State. In support of its position the Accountability Round Table makes the following points
- the purpose of election campaigning should be to enable voters to go to the ballot box with a reasonably informed view of how they want to cast their vote rather than to sell the political party or candidate.
- as election campaign expenditure has grown, so too has the time that has to be spent raising money by those we elect to govern for us. Such time would be better spent considering the complex policy issues that we face.
- the majority of privately funded donations, whether from corporations or individuals, are a cost borne by the consumer, and one which, in the case of corporations and trade unions, may not necessarily be in accord with the wishes of the ultimate source.
- advertising expenditure by incumbent governments should be subject to rigorous guidelines based on the following principles
- material should be relevant to government responsibilities
- material should be presented in an objective, fair and accessible manner; and
- material should not be directed at promoting party political interests.
- more rigorous standards and monitoring of advertising expenditure by incumbent governments would also release funds for public funding.