{"id":1408,"date":"2019-02-01T06:40:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T06:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2019-02-01T06:40:29","modified_gmt":"2019-02-01T06:40:29","slug":"donations-data-shows-our-democracy-is-for-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/02\/01\/donations-data-shows-our-democracy-is-for-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Donations data shows our democracy is for sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

The political donations data released today revealing massive corporate donations to the major parties shows our democracy is for sale and donations reform is desperately needed, Greens democracy spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said.
\n\u201cToday\u2019s data again shows the major parties are owned by the mining, gambling, alcohol, property and banking industries,\u201d Senator Waters said.
\n\u201cJust in the last financial year the major political parties have taken more than \u00a0a million dollars from the fossil fuel industry, almost two million from the gambling and alcohol industry, and tens of millions from the big banks.
\n\u201cMillions of dollars of corporate donations have flowed from infamous companies like Adani ($50k), Santos ($182k), Woodside ($237k), and Tabcorp ($218k), and industry associations like the AHA ($1.09m).
\n\u201cIt\u2019s no wonder we still have lax corporate taxation laws, tax subsidies for fossil fuel companies and no plan to transition to clean energy, no limits on predatory gambling, and alcohol advertising dominating our sports events.
\n\u201cMillions from the big mining and gas companies is why we don\u2019t have action on climate change despite having have just had the hottest month on record in Australia, flooding in Far North Queensland right now, and catastrophic bushfires in Tasmania.
\n\u201cIn the last six years there\u2019s been more than $100 million in corporate donations to the big parties, and today\u2019s data further increases that.
\n\u201cToday\u2019s data is just the tip of the iceberg with the millions of dollars donated since July 2018 remaining secret for 12 more months \u2013 well after the next federal election.
\n\u201cThe lack of transparency perpetuates a system where politicians represent their corporate donors, instead of representing the community and improving people\u2019s lives.
\n\u201cTo add insult to injury, a third of all corporations didn\u2019t pay tax last year – yet many could afford to donate generously to political parties.
\n\u201cOur democracy is broken. We need to get the influence of big money out and start restoring integrity into our parliament.\u201d
\nThe Greens today announced their plan to clean up politics which includes:<\/p>\n