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By Situation Theatre 9/5/2020
Reform donations and lobbying, stamp out corruption, strengthen civil society.
Greens leader Adam Bandt has detailed a three-stage plan to boost Australian democracy after the economic and social disaster of the Morrison Government.
Below are some of the changes involved at each stage, according to the plan.
Step One – Reform Donations and Lobbying
Step One will see the rollback of the corporate takeover of our democracy.
Measures include:
Ban donations from development, tobacco, alcohol, gambling, banking, defence and pharmaceutical industries
Cap all other donations to no more than $1,000 per year
Maximise donation transparency.
Disqualify corporate lobbyists from working for politicians – never again could a Prime Minister’s office be dominated by former mining lobbyists and Murdoch employees.
Information about meetings with lobbyists disclosed to the public
Five-year ban on Ministers and their senior staff working as lobbyists
Step Two – Stamp Out Corruption
Bandt says Step Two will set up the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which will “hold public officials and politicians to account” and “close the revolving door between big business and politics”.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission will be an independent statutory agency which includes:
A National Integrity Commissioner - working to prevent misconduct and corruption in all federal departments, agencies, and by all federal parliamentarians and their staff. The Commission will have “full investigative powers, including conducting public and private hearings and summoning any person or agency to produce documents or appear before the Commission”.
A Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner – will deal with corruption in the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Crimes Commission
An Independent Parliamentary Advisor – will give “confidential advice to ministers, parliamentarians, and former parliamentarians in relation to conflict of interest, entitlements claims, ethics, proprietary and similar matters. The Advisor would also provide advice on the development of legally binding parliamentary codes of conduct.”
Step Three – Strengthen Civil Society
Step Three will see our democracy return to full health, according to the Greens leader. It includes such actions as:
Protect the rights of citizens and community groups to speak out
Include more people in the political process through citizens assemblies, participatory budget making, and petitions which trigger debates in parliament
Stronger freedom of information laws
Radical media reform – break up media concentration, rein in Murdoch and the social media giants, use tax and transparency changes to prioritise public interest journalism over profits
Immediately restore ABC funding to pre-Abbott levels and then grow its funding year on year. Make its funding a matter of law rather than the whims of government. Clear out the ABC board and ensure its editorial independence
Fund SBS sufficient so they can phase out advertising
Implement sweeping measures to bolster the power of the union movement and boost the right to strike
Mr Bandt said if all goes well, Australian democracy should be up and running again by about July.
*While Bandt may not have actually said any of these things, almost all of these ideas and much of the language comes from Greens policy statements on Cleaning Up Politics, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Media Reform, and Employment and Workplace Relations.