Liberal plan to side step corporate funding ban

Responding to the call by outgoing Liberal Party federal President Alan Stockdale for his party to accept corporate membership fees, Greens democracy spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon has said this would defeat efforts to clean up politics.

Mr Stockdale said he was making the proposal in response to expected greater electoral funding regulation and moves to ban corporate donations. http://ab.co/1qCFd2b

"The former Liberal president has let the cat out of the bag in how the Liberals could still pull in corporate money," said Senator Rhiannon.

"While senior Liberal MPs like Christopher Pyne have been calling for all political donations to be banned, Mr Stockdale is setting out how the Liberals could get around that funding reform.

"High corporate membership fees are just another form of corporate political donations.

"The public are looking for parties to clean up the corrupting influence of large political donations not find loopholes.

"Prime Minister Tony Abbott and incoming federal Liberal President Richard Alston should immediately rule out this plan.

"It is time the Coalition and Labor parties came on board with bans on corporate political donations and strict election spending caps, which would remove the need for massive election war chests, and greater transparency of electoral funding.

"The Greens are continuing to campaign for electoral funding reform," Senator Rhiannon said.

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