13 June 2024
The SA Greens welcome moves by the Malinauskas Government to ban donations to political parties but say they will carefully scrutinise the details of the proposal before forming a position.
"The Greens have long rallied against the corrosive influence of donations on our democracy, so we really welcome this conversation. The devil will be in the detail here, however and we will carefully examine any bill before forming a position," said Greens Democracy Spokesperson, Robert Simms MLC.
"In particular, we want to ensure that any reform doesn't stifle small parties and independents - after all, this diversity is vital to our democracy."
"We also want to consider potential loopholes. I am concerned that third party organisations aren't covered by these rules. This could allow big business or other wealthy interest groups to act as surrogates for political parties, running campaigns on their behalf. I would hate to see the emergence of the Political Action Committee (super PAC) war chests that we have in the US, for instance."
"This is a once in a generation opportunity to clean up our political system. We want to make sure we get it right."
"We look forward to engaging constructively with the Government around this reform and welcome feedback from the community."