Thread by @cpi_aus

New research by the Centre shows that big donors are having a disproportionate impact on our political parties and elections.

A thread featuring our key findings:

#auspol #politicaldonations

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The top 5% of unique donors over the entire period contributed 76.4% of all donations (total concentration across all years).

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The top 5 individual donations make up 31.5% of all political donations

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The top 10 individual donations make up 41.4% of all political donations

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Why is this a problem?

Large donations from monied interest groups are a risk as they are apt to give a select few ‘privileged access to decision makers within a party.”

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Donations to political parties are a well-established corruption risk (as seen by the 2018 report into the Political Influence of Donations).

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What about small donations?

Small donations from individuals are often a symptom of an engaged polity and hence a healthy democracy.

Perspectives on Politics, Jennifer Rubenstein, Volume 20 , Issue 3 , September 2022 , pp. 965 - 982

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The High Court has noted that wealthy donors may seek ‘quid pro quo’ favours with elected officials, or may even seek to make the party so dependent on their patronage that they have no choice but to support their donors. McCloy (n 4) [36]-[41] French CJ, et al

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What to do?

Real time disclosures
Expand the definition of donation
Donation caps
Reduced donation disclosures

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Want to know more, you can read the article in full here:

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If you like this type of research follow us on twitter (@cpi_aus) or subscribe to our research newsletter.

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