South Australia introduces ‘world-leading’ bill to ban political donations from elections

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has announced plans to ban political donations from state elections, paving the way for nation-leading electoral reforms.

Malinauskas said his bill would put South Australia on the “cusp of becoming a world leader in ending the nexus between money and political power”.

The Albanese government pledged to introduce spending and donation caps, and truth in political advertising laws, as revealed by Guardian Australia after the 2022 federal election and confirmed by a parliamentary inquiry that reported last July.

Lower house independents, including Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall, the Greens, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and the Jacqui Lambie Network, joined forces to introduce a bill for fair and transparent elections in March.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, suggested truth-in-political advertising laws would be “probably welcome” in March, raising expectations that a major party deal might be possible.

The Coalition’s members strongly opposed the government-chaired inquiry’s recommendations, saying any increase in the territories’ Senate representation would make the value of state votes more disproportionate.

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Call me skeptical or jaded or what have you, but I think if you ban political donations that are transparent in the public square, you’re only going to get more bribes and greased palms.

Kind of like how a prohibition on alcohol or drugs or gambling results in more organized crime. I fear it’s a part of the human condition.

Instead, I’d much rather see a public blockchain, where donations could be tracked and reported, and have laws against the donations that are placed in secret.