Bubble talk. It’s in the bubble.
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Nice work HC, … now to get the same Laws instituted Federally.
Should property developers be able to donate to political parties? The High Court says no.
By Allyson Horn and Elizabeth Byrne
4-5 minutes
Updated about 2 hours agoWed 17 Apr 2019, 11:49am
The High Court has ruled a Queensland law banning political donations from property developers is valid.
Key points:
- Former LNP Queensland president Gary Spence, who quit over the ban, challenged the law in the High Court
- The High Court ruled the law was constitutional but did not deliver its reasons
- The law, which bans property developer donations, was introduced in Queensland last year to crack down on corruption and increase transparency
The law was introduced last year to crack down on corruption and increase transparency.
It was challenged in the High Court by former LNP Queensland president Gary Spence, who quit his role at the helm of the party over the ban.
Mr Spence spearheaded the campaign, claiming the law meant he could face jail time because of his dealings with the property industry.
But the High Court ruled the law was constitutional, and that the Queensland Government was able to make property donations a criminal offence.
The court has not delivered reasons for its ruling, but has issued the orders in time to give certainty for those involved in the current federal election campaign.
During the case, the Government argued the laws were necessary after a report from the state’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) on corruption in local government elections.
“The Crime and Corruption Commission found a risk, or perceived risk, of corruption at the local government level arising from political donations from property developers,” the state’s submission to the High Court said.
Law ‘burdens’ freedom of political communication
But Mr Spence said the laws did not differentiate between donations to local councillors and state or federal candidates, and could not apply to federal candidates because it was an exclusive domain of the Commonwealth.
Mr Spence also claimed the law placed a burden on the implied right to freedom of political communication in the constitution.
“A restriction on the availability of funds will substantially diminish the extent of political communications,” his lawyers argued.
“Campaigning is an essential part of political communication.”
The Queensland Government agreed but told the High Court the laws were necessary and justified.
“The burden is indirect and insubstantial,” the state argued.
“This is because the provisions regulate funds, not speech, and leave prohibited donors at liberty to communicate on matters of politics and government, including influencing politicians to a point of view.”
State government welcomes decision
Acting Attorney-General Stirling Hinchliffe said the State Government welcomed the decision saying it upheld its commitment to transparency and accountability.
“In contrast, the LNP has wanted to keep their donations a secret,” he said.
"They have done everything they possibly could to keep them a secret, including using the Commonwealth Parliament and gone to the highest court to hide donations.
“But the jig is up.”
Queensland’s Deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mander said his party disagreed with the ruling.
“We still believe that these laws are politically motivated by the Palaszczuk Government,” Mr Mander said.
"We don’t think it’s fair that one section of the community should not be allowed to be part of the political process.
"Where in the meantime the Palaszczuk Government continues receive wads of cash from dodgy trade unions.
“We think it was worth the fight. We think the questions were valid.”
Topics: liberal-national-party, courts-and-trials, activism-and-lobbying, federal—state-issues, law-crime-and-justice, laws, act, brisbane-4000, qld
First posted about 4 hours agoWed 17 Apr 2019, 10:03am
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He challenged it because he might do jail time because of his corrupt dealings.
Pack your toothbrush, son! No…pack two. You should be in there for quite a while.
All political donations should be banned.
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I’d say a cap on political donations. So $1000 per entity.
And a register that gets updated and released instantly.
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But is it a fair dinkum bubble?
Real time political donations register. Make it happen.
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And publicly accessible bodycams on all elected representatives
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And the IPA to be declared a terrorist organisation.
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Gee not hard to see who the media work for now is it?
Rupert?
Well it certainly isn’t going out of it’s way to promote Labor.
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Labor is gonna have to deal with another month of the media chipping away
Lol at Morrison invoking the buble
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GetUp is real time, Advance Australia will be after the event. And we need to include those $20k luncheons etc as donations
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If you screw up the economy voters will turn on you. If you do well on the economy voters will say thanks and then will look for other issues. Happened in NZ, will happen here. Even Bill’s economic theory that if you are fair and decent the economy will do well is going unchallenged. Labour will romp it in - Libs in well deserved purgatory for eight years to sort themselves out. The economy will fall away and the Libs will be back. The cycle of life continues.
Abolish compulsory superannuation and repeal the fair work act lol
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Part of the problem when it comes to good economic management is it requires long-term thinking, investments into the economy cost money in the short-term and provide rewards over an extended period of time.
So Labor invests in the economy, Liberals and the Media then flip their lid at ‘excessive spending’, the public fall for all the bleating and re-elect the Liberals, who inherit the rewards of Labors investment, falsely bolstering their ill-deserved economic credentials whilst cutting spending to ‘balance the budget’ which actually just suppresses economic activity and growth. Rinse and repeat.
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A simple maxim is…if you’re in the IPA, you’re a ■■■■.
And here’s someone who’s probably already a member…from the Age today.
Young Liberal Instagram ‘rich kid’ questioned by police after altercation
Former Liberal club vice-president Benedict Kusay said to have pushed a female security guard after he was barred from entering by factional opponents.
A young Liberal with a penchant for fast cars, luxury yachts, and expensive cigars has been questioned by police over an alleged assault against a female security guard at one of the nation’s most prestigious universities.
With just over a month until the federal election, the Victorian Liberals once again face concerns over the culture of its youth movement after an ugly stoush erupted at the Melbourne University Liberal Club, the student association whose alumni includes some of the state’s top politicians.
Tensions began simmering at an annual general meeting of club members last month after former vice president Benedict Kusay - a self-described “entrepreneur” who recently appeared in an article about the “Rich Kids of Instagram” - opposed the re-election of its incumbent president, Chris Kounelis.
The outcome of the meeting was thrown into doubt, and a second AGM was due to take place on Monday at the university’s Lowe theatre. There the dispute escalated and police were called to question Mr Kusay over claims he pushed a female security guard as he tried to enter the building.
The 23-year-old student strongly denied any wrongdoing, but declined to comment publicly on what exactly happened. Instead, he hit back at Mr Kounelis by suggesting the Liberal Club had been financially mismanaged under his presidency - a matter that the university’s student union was now investigating.
“With the Student Union currently conducting a serious financial audit into club accounts for the period of Chris Kounelis’ presidency, Chris and his backers should focus on cooperating with that, rather than spreading untrue stories about me through the media,” he said.
No findings of financial mismanagement have been made against Mr Kounelis.
Mr Kounelis declined to respond, but in a Facebook post circulated to club members after Monday’s incident he apologised for the “disgraceful behaviour which was on display this afternoon.”
“It is a stain on all of us that Victoria Police had to attend today in relation to an alleged assault on a female,” he wrote. “The scenes at today’s meeting were unacceptable.”
A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed that officers “were called to an alleged assault” on Monday, but no charges were laid.
“Investigators have been told a male student pushed his way past a female security guard shortly before 12.30pm after being refused entry to a private meeting,” a spokeswoman said.
“The 23-year-old man was interviewed and released pending further enquiries. The woman was not injured and did not wish to make a formal statement to police at this time.”
Mr Kusay’s Instagram feed is filled with photographs of the young German student living the high life at nightclubs and travel destinations around the world. He declined to respond to questions about his social media profile, which switched from “public” to “private” on Wednesday afternoon after The Age and Sydney Morning Herald made inquiries.
The incident is not the first time the university’s Liberal club has come under the spotlight.
Last year, another senior club official also found himself the subject of an intervention order by a female factional rival. In 2014, leaked Facebook posts from members described women as “■■■■■”, Muslims as “degenerates” and described all feminists as “ugly.”
But the timing of the latest stoush - days into a federal election campaign - is likely to be sensitive for a party that has previously been criticised for being out of touch, or for having problems with women.
Melbourne University’s Liberal alumni include federal senator Scott Ryan, retiring federal MP Kelly O’Dwyer, and Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien.
Student clubs can provide young people with a taste of politics, and act as a breeding ground for the next generation of MPs, although the Liberal Party itself has limited authority to deal with embarrassing internal brawls.
Part of the problem is that while the clubs may carry the Liberal name, and its members often get jobs working for MPs, the clubs are not “formally” affiliated with the Party.
The club will now remain in limbo until its leadership woes can be fixed. The University declined to comment. A spokesman said: “Internal disputes within the University Liberal Club are matters for the club to resolve.”
Agreed. Long-term economic success requires long-term thinking. Our political cycle lends itself to short term thinking and I don’t think it so much the Media flipping their lid at ‘excessive spending’ as it is the Media constantly looking for and if not finding, creating conflict. Whether it is the coach’s press conference or Q&A’s contrived debate it is conflict and searching for that zinger that matters.
Whilst the Liberals will often reap the rewards from Labor’s investments in economic and social infrastructure and their clawing back of spending and a growing bureaucracy could perhaps be seen as an ‘automatic stabilizer’ rather than rinse and repeat.
Ideally we could elect a left-leaning Labor government for a term and then replace it with a right leaning Labor government for a term.