Founding Statement from BRAD PEDERSEN.
Financial donations to political parties and candidates are one of the most corrupting forces in our political system. This is the dark underbelly of our society and it's not pretty. Our laws and practices relating to financial donations have become a serious threat to our democracy.
The policy outcomes of our governments are being improperly influenced by huge corporations, powerful trade unions and wealthy individuals. Some secure their influence by making equally enormous donations to both parties! Worse still, creative accounting and shady 'front organizations' are used to allow rich and powerful donors to mask their identity. These donations are not required to be publicly declared for up to 18 months after they have been received, there is no upper limit to amounts donated and there is no limit on campaign expenditure.
The current legislative framework also allows donations by foreign individuals and foreign organizations. Ensuring that there can be no foreign influence in domestic politics is a big issue in other countries. It should be a big issue here too. The current legislative framework is wholly inadequate, riddled with loopholes and invites corruption. The time has come to seriously confront this cancer in our political system.
The major parties each have a 'bagman' seeking financial donations and every year the major parties collect what amounts to many millions of dollars. That sort of money corrupts. Why else would corporations donate so much? Because they think politicians are 'nice guys'? Unlikely. It's because they want something. And they are getting what they want. Both ALP and Liberal-National governments have accepted huge donations from corporations and individuals which in turn have made enormous profits from favorable government decisions.
Nobody should believe this money is donated because of any altruistic enthusiasm for democracy. Even if there is no direct undertaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, clearly it's about buying influence. It must be exposed for what it is. These donations are predominantly just bribes - to think otherwise is naive. Our democracy is literally being 'bought'.
The perception that political influence can be 'bought' is extremely damaging to the public's faith in our democratic system and severely undermines the integrity of our representative government. The control of parliament by political parties riddled with corporate cash should not be seen as anything other than the breakdown of fundamental aspects of our democracy. The 'founding fathers' of our constitution would be turning in their graves.
Our system of campaign finance requires a major overhaul. Yet while other sections of our society have over the last few decades been the target of rationalization, our political system has been excluded from these pressures. There is no 'level playing field' or 'free market' in ideas through our polity. These institutional barriers to the free movement of ideas are a serious impediment for our democracy. Before our 'representatives' can speak on any matter, their 'opinions' must first be sifted through complex hierarchies that are riddled with moneyed interests.
It is no secret that the major parties are being strangled by these donations. Indeed, it is now time our political parties were saved from themselves. Yet the experience is that it is never quite the right time for the major parties to reform the system or reform themselves. After all, the major parties created for themselves the legislative structure of our campaign finance laws. The major parties, being the beneficiaries of this system, resist reforms that threaten their privilege. The fundamental reason why the vast majority of individual politicians are silent is that they were elected under the existing system. It is a blatant conflict of interest.
But it doesn't have to remain this way. We don't have to accept the reality that is dished up to us. We do not have to submit to this fraud. Everybody knows that these donations are bribes and are an affront to the principles that underpin our democracy, but nothing will change unless the public demands it. If the people's power over the political system is failing, then the people have a duty to seek out ways to recover it. There are reforms that are crying out to be introduced that could address the perversions in our democracy, but the only way reform will occur is from the bottom up, a grassroots campaign. Politics is too important to be left to the political parties. Ultimately it is 'we the people' who are responsible for the leadership we get and the institutional framework that we give our politicians to play out their battles. In the end, the people get the government they deserve.
The time is well overdue for the public and the media to launch a sustained attack on this system of vote buying and the corruption of our democracy. It is with this aim in mind that DEMOCRACY WATCH has been launched.
Brad Pedersen
15th November 2005