2006 Law Change
In May, 2006, the Australian government increased the disclosure threshold for political donations from $1500 to $10,000. In announcing the laws, the government said it will result in a "fairer" and "more competitive" electoral system, however, failed to discuss how the changes achieved these goals.
Critics allege the new law will increase the chances of corruption, by making political donations harder to track, and by making conflicts of interest harder to detect. The change in disclosure allowed corporations to secretly donate up to $90,000 spread across the national and eight state/territory branches of political parties without public disclosure of that funding. Donations up to $1500 were also made tax deductible.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Library estimated this disclosure change will increase the number of secret political donations from 25% up to 36%.
Since 2006, the threshold has increased two or three hundred dollars each year (adjusted for inflation) so that in 2011 the threshold is $11,900. That means a total of up to $107,100 from each donor can be received by political parties (spread across the national and state/territory branches) without a need for disclosure.
Read more about this topic: Political Donations In Australia
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