Labor is pushing for the biggest overhaul of funding and disclosure laws in more than a decade to curb an “arms race” it says is fueled by billionaires, while also offering parties and candidates more taxpayer money for each vote.

The overhaul, due to be presented to Parliament on Monday, would limit political donors to $20,000 per candidate per calendar year.

An “anti-avoidance provision” would also cap donors at $600,000 total to apply to businesses, individuals, business groups, unions and any other donors.

In addition, candidates would for the first time face spending limits, set at $800,000 per candidate and $90 million for a political party across the country.

Near real-time donation disclosure would also be introduced as part of the changes, along with a dramatic reduction in the disclosure threshold to $1,000 from the current level of $16,900.

Labor hopes the bill can be passed within the next fortnight after an agreement in principle, although not yet final, with the Coalition.

The changes, which would not apply until after the next election, would require candidates and parties to reveal their financial backers approximately two weeks after the end of a calendar month.

The pace of disclosure would shift to weekly release once election campaigning begins, then to daily release for seven days before Election Day and for seven days after Election Day to prevent candidates from delaying their payments.

The government proposes to help parties and candidates manage the additional administrative burden caused by the changes by increasing public funding per vote by approximately $5 from the current rate of $3,346 and the rate of $2,914 for the last election.

This funding is available to candidates who win a primary vote of 4 percent or more. In the last election, the Australian Electoral Commission paid out more than $75 million.

If they maintain their share of the vote, Labor and Liberals would each get almost $20 million more than last time, with millions more for the Greens and One Nation and tens of thousands for the leading independents. efficient.

Special Minister of State Don Farrell said the reforms would “tackle big money in our electoral system and protect our democracy”.

“Years of investigations and evidence from multiple elections show us that the greatest weakness in our electoral system is the influence of money on our political system.

“Over the past decade, we have seen billionaires repeatedly attempt to influence our elections, not through politics or turnout, but through money and misinformation.”

Once passed by the House of Representatives, where Labor has a majority, the bill is expected to be sent to the Senate at the end of the week.

The government is seeking support from the opposition and Senate MPs the following week, which insiders say could be Parliament’s last sitting period as Labor prepares for an election in early 2025.

Caps at entry and exit

The limits are deliberately generous in an attempt to soften the impact of an almost certain legal challenge from Clive Palmer.

However, these measures would have been enough to significantly reduce the $123 million spent by his party during the last election.

This is not much different from the amounts spent by the Coalition ($132 million) and Labor ($116 million), which would also be reduced.

But importantly, Palmer donated almost all of that money himself, so he would have been limited to $600,000 split among his candidates.

The model could also constrain teal independents. The six newly elected teal lawmakers spent more than $800,000 on their 2022 campaigns, and some nearly three times as much.

In many cases, much of that money came from the Climate 200 fundraising arm, which may need to consider registering as a political party if it wants to provide significant support for candidates.

Unions and business groups donating would be covered by the same rules as other entities. They would also face an $11 million spending limit on their own campaigns, just like campaign outfits GetUp and Advance.

Truth in advertising laws will also be introduced, but this is unlikely to progress

The bill would implement a series of recommendations made by the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Matters.

But others would be left out, including additional representation for states and territories.

And while Labor will also introduce a Truth Standards in Political Advertising Bill, based on the South Australian model, this appears doomed to failure, with the Coalition staunchly opposed, and Labor will only seek not to make it progress during the last fortnight of parliamentary sitting. for the year.

Speaking before the details were released, Dr Catherine Williams of the Center for Public Integrity told ABC’s Insiders: The On Background podcast capsules were “a really important part of a solution to the problem of influence of money in politics.

“Just because you can raise a million dollars or more doesn’t mean you should be able to spend it,” she said.

Dr Williams added that it was important that the caps did not benefit incumbents and warned against rushing adoption.

“We wouldn’t want it to be passed by Parliament as quickly as possible…

“Genuine consultation results in truly meaningful improvements. We don’t get the best results for democracy when a bill is rushed through Parliament, for example, because it has the support of a large party.”

She suggested that the government adopt simple elements now, like real-time disclosure and the $1,000 disclosure threshold, but leave the rest until after the election, “until it can be a real consultation and a real examination.