This week the taxpayers of Australia have been treated to the revelations that both sides of politics circumvented laws to prevent " slush funds " being accumulated by way of innocent sounding legal charities. It seems that this hidden cash is used to fund political campaigns and to enrich individuals.
In a Royal Commission hearing, Australian Workers Union (AWU ) bagman Ralph Blewitt disclosed details of a slush fund setup by Julia Gillard when she was a lawyer in which funds were diverted by her then boyfriend to renovations being carried out on her home.
At an ICAC hearing, Liberal party bagman Ray Carter admitted soliciting donations from developers who were barred from openly donating funds to politicians. These were channelled through two organizations - Eightby-Five and the Free Enterprise Foundation - and funded political activities.
The only conclusion that taxpayers may draw - is that all forms of politics is " dirty business ". Finding a way to clear it up seems to be the ultimate conundrum.
One suggestion that repeatedly makes an appearance is to publicly fund political advertising in the runup to an election - and totally ban any other form of advertising by individual candidates. That idea would run headlong into the " Freedom of speech " aspect of Australian society and it would favour the main political parties - and exclude most independents from gaining worthwhile public notice.
The purists insist that some sort of public debate in which all the contestants were given equal time on national media would level the playing field, and it has seriously been suggested that the qualifications for the Senate be rationalized to bring the selection field back to sanity. The problem is that while all these ideas certainly have elements of merit, they also present unintended consequences that could prevent the voters from making a fair choice.
Safety probably lays in retaining the present system - with all it's flaws. As both ICAC and a Royal Commission is showing, dirty dealing usually come unstuck and we have seen a progression of victims from both sides of politics exit the arena in disgrace. Provided the instruments of review are given the freedom to move and hold investigations the politicians and their cohorts break election laws - at their peril.
Totally clean politics is probably an impossible dream - and we live in the " real world " !
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