Greasing the Wheels

“In any decision making process, fairness demands that all interested parties are treated
equally. The community is fully aware, as are the major political parties, that pressuring
interested parties to pay for access to a decision maker is anathema to this principle. Take the
example of a controversial property or mining development. What is the perception of a
reasonable person if the well-resourced applicant pays to sup with the decision maker whilst
the objector is not only not invited but cannot afford the tariff imposed. What is on offer? As
former Minister, now prisoner, Nuttall now famously said at his trial: ‘Nothing is for nothing’
“Not only is it wrong from the point of view of perceived and actual fairness, it is deeply flawed
because it wilfully and arrogantly disregards a fundamental principle of our democracy, that
those elected to govern must use the power entrusted to them for the benefit of the
community. Simply put, the attributes of Government have been temporarily reposed in those
elected. These attributes are not their property and are not for sale to augment the coffers of
sectional interest in the form of a political part.”
Gary Crooke QC,
Former Council assisting Fitzgerald Inquiry and former QLD Integrity Commissioner.
[Speaking specifically on “cash for access” fundraising by political parties.]
"This is an important study that has done the detailed work to demonstrate how political
donations corrode our democracy. It demonstrates that money doesn’t just buy access, it buys
outcomes.
"The report calls for improvements to the disclosure system in Queensland. However, because
of past corruption scandals the system in Queensland is actually one of the best in Australia.
"It is almost impossible to do a study like this on the federal government because the lobbying
system is shrouded in secrecy. At the federal level the secrecy is so bad it is almost impossible
to uncover corruption.
"The report demonstrates why we need to reform in Queensland, and a drastic overhaul of the
political donations culture in Canberra.
" We need uniform donations and disclosure laws across all jurisdictions so that donors cannot
jurisdiction shop.
"We need real time disclosure of payments, and good data on who the payments are from,
and what issues before the Parliament they have interests in. The job the ACF has done here is
enormously labor intensive and it is beyond the resources of most of our media outlets. If we
want transparency in our political system, the lobbying information needs to be collated and
provided in an accessible form.
"We need to have a public debate about how our political parties should be funded, whether
companies should be allowed to donate, and whether there should be caps on donations."
Dr Belinda Edwards,
International Political Studies Program, School of Humanities and Social Sciences UNSW
Greasing the Wheels
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