Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Integrity policy Where do the parties and candidates stand?

Over the past weeks it has been mostly confusing. Distorted by bullshit, bravado, macho statements from his and his fawning self-interest groups. Ginormous pork barreling, look-at-me-photo-ops and all the rest of the political crap driving me and perhaps you nuts.
Here is a reason to STOP, Gather your thoughts and explore really explore what some of the better independents are on about.
At the end of this cursed run-up-to-election-time unfortunately We Will Get What We Deserve.

Hopefully None-Of-The-Same Over to you. Make your vote count

Integrity policy Where do the parties and candidates stand?

Integrity policy

Where do the parties and candidates stand?

Where do candidates stand?

Integrity and the influence of big money in Australian politics has been a huge issue in this federal election – so many of us want to see our elected leaders take the actions that will make our whole political system more fair, open, participatory and accountable.

What makes for good integrity policy? And where do the parties and candidates vying for your vote stand? On this page you’ll find:

  • Their Checklist outlines of what to look for in a strong integrity policy
  • A recording of the National Integrity Policy Forum, an online event we hosted on April 12. 25 speakers ranging from political party representatives, independent MPs, and candidates shared a 2 minute presentation about what they’ll do on integrity reforms if elected to Parliament.
  • Links to written policy statements from the speakers, and other candidates, outlining the integrity measures they’ll pursue if elected to the next parliament.

Checklist: what to look for in a strong integrity policy

The Framework for a Fair Democracy is a package of reforms that, together, would transform the way our political system works, and make it more fair for everyone. We’ve consulted experts, stakeholders and community groups, to ensure that we have the strongest possible suite of reforms. Our Framework is best practice, and we think that every party and candidate should commit to these measures.

While we need to enact all the policy positions in our Framework to begin the clean-up of our political system, this election there are a few things that we consider the most critical and time sensitive. You can use this checklist to assess whether a candidate or party is offering a solid integrity policy.

  • Strong federal integrity commission, including the ability to hold hearings in public, and make findings
  • Cap donations to political parties and disclose them publicly in real time
  • Limit election spending by corporations and political parties
  • Open ministerial diaries, and strengthen the lobbyist register
State Capture, as defined by the World Bank;

“State capture is the exercise of power by private actors — through control over resources, threat of violence, or other forms of influence — to shape policies or implementation in service of their narrow interests”

Real world examples

State capture is used by many different industries, and this report deeply investigates two of the worst examples in Australia.

Fossil fuel industries

“We know more about energy policy than the government does. We know more about industry policy than the government does. We know where every skeleton in the closet is – most of them, we buried.”

Fossil industry lobbyist

Arms industry

“Despite the effort and priority accorded to maintaining a healthy local defence industry, there’s surprisingly little hard data in the public domain about the size and shape of the sector.”

Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 2017

The report also sets out four recommendations on how to confront state capture and restore our democracy.

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