Financial disclosures released today by the Australian Electoral Commission have highlighted the fact that Tasmanians can't be sure who's funding their elected government.
Shadow Attorney General Ella Haddad said of a total of $3.4 million of donations declared by the Tasmanian Liberal Party for the 2018-19 financial year, it's not been revealed who's behind nearly $2.6 million worth.
"Under the current law, the Tasmanian Liberals have been able to get away with hiding the identity of those who've contributed a significant proportion of donations they received.
"What we do know is that listed among the donors who are disclosed are pharmaceutical companies, big banks and lobbyists.
"The question is what sorts of organisations are hidden in the list of undisclosed donors?"
Ms Haddad said Tasmania's donation laws are the worst in the country, and allow the Liberals to keep the source of some donations out of the spotlight.
"For example, an organisation can make multiple donations that add up to a sizeable figure, but if each individual donation is under the threshold amount of $13,800, the Liberal party does not have to include the donor's name on its disclosure.
"The Liberals promised to reform Tasmania's election donation laws immediately after the last state election, yet nearly two years later there has been no change.
"Some of these donations date back to the start of the 2018 financial year - 18 months ago.
"Labor has called for law reform that would see disclosure of all donations to political parties over $1000 and make this information public within 14 days of donations occurring.
"Peter Gutwein needs to tell Tasmanians whether Tasmanians can expect transparency under his leadership, or not.
"Tasmanians deserve to know who's funding their elected officials."
Ella Haddad
Shadow Attorney General
