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).

buff.ly/3wFzgus

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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:

buff.ly/3JsC9pV

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

buff.ly/3jlH1Tq

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More from @cpi_aus

Feb 3
Where did the biggest donors send their money in the 2021/22 election year?

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#aupol #politicaldonations Image
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Read 9 tweets
Feb 1
Breakdown of top 10 donors to the Coalition, Labor and the Greens in 2021/22

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#auspol #politicaldonations
Representing $6,195,533 of $19,542,211 given in donations to the Coalition in 2021-22 (31.7 per cent)

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Representing $4,990,796 of $12,803,955 of all donations given to the ALP in 2021-22 (39 per cent).

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Read 4 tweets
Feb 1
In 2022 the top 10 individual donors contributed $137.5 million to parties and independents, which equates to 76.9% of all donations given in the year.

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#auspol #politicaldonations Image
Campaign spending for the 2022 Federal Election remained at record-high levels, reaching $439.4 million.

This is arguably the highest federal election spend on record, seeing as the 2018-19 financial year also included Victorian and NSW state elections.

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“Spending in the last federal election was at a record high. We cannot continue to allow elections to be effectively bought by the highest bidder.”

~ Melbourne Law School Professor and Centre Director Joo Cheong Tham.

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Read 4 tweets
Jan 31
Analysis of donations declared to the AEC over 22 years from 1998/1999-2019/2020 shows that:

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#auspol #politicaldonations ImageImage
The Australian Labor Party was the largest fundraiser, raising $564.25 million;

💰33.15% of ALP donations came from associated entities
💰29.59% from associated unions
💰6.91% from the property industry

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The Coalition raised $499.16 million

💰41.78% of Coalition donations came from associated entities
💰11.39% from the property industry
💰 9.29% from individuals

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Read 9 tweets
Jan 30
Last year we created donation profiles for each political party with data ranging from 1998/99-2019/2020. This thread has some key screenshots and links to each corresponding party.

The Coalition:

(buff.ly/3HjHZHw )

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#auspol #whopaysthepiper
Labor

buff.ly/3HjHZHw

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The Greens

buff.ly/3JqAjpQ

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Read 6 tweets
Jan 29
On Wednesday, the AEC will release the annual donations data showing who funded the last election.
The Commonwealth has the weakest donation laws in the country. A🧵on how to fix this.

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#auspol
1. Campaign spending caps

A set amount. For political parties/candidates and third parties. That makes participation achievable for independents and smaller parties. Follow the NSW model of setting an electorate and national cap.
2. Donation caps

Amount set to curb the influence of big donors and make participation achievable for individuals. To apply to political parties and candidates, associated entities, political campaigners and third parties
Read 7 tweets

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