Planned overhaul of political and election donation rules, dubbed Clive’s Law, puts heat on Labor, Mark McGowan ahead of 2021 State election

On Monday night, Mark McGowan fronted a meeting of the WA Labor State Executive for the first time since the resignation of State secretary Matt Dixon. In welcoming Dixon’s replacement, Tim Picton, a former adviser to Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, McGowan’s speech to party faithful felt like the starting pistol being fired on the 2021 State election campaign. He spoke of finishing 2019 “strongly”, listed legislative priorities for 2020 and warned members that the retirements of long-serving MPs Mick Murray and Peter Watson meant they’ll have to “fight harder” to retain the country seats of Collie and Albany. The Premier also uttered a catchphrase that I expect signals the message his Government will be pushing over the next 13 months. “The State caucus will be hard at work doing what we were designed to do in government. Provide stable government, provide competent government, provide responsible government. “Western Australians like that about their Government. And also while doing that we are still delivering great Labor policies because they are just common sense things to do,” McGowan said. “Stable”, “competent” and “responsible”. They are three words he repeated in Question Time yesterday. He’s right, these are things many mainstream voters want — or expect — from government. There’s another thing they expect: integrity. In December, a survey showed trust in politicians was at a record low, with less than 41 per cent of Australian citizens satisfied with the way democracy works, down from 86 per cent in 2007. In a step that may go some way to regaining trust, McGowan confirmed this week that improving “transparency and accountability” is behind a planned overhaul of political and election donations, including swifter disclosures and spending caps. The reform was a promise he took to the 2017 State election. But it now has added interest given the unprecedented intervention by Clive Palmer at last year’s Federal election when McGowan and Labor were the target of the Queensland billionaire’s advertising blitz. Asked by the Opposition if the legislation — let’s dub it Clive’s Law — was only intended to silence Palmer, McGowan said the changes would be applied to corporations, unions and individuals to stop “the sorts of arms race that we have seen in the United States”. “I have been advised that a congressman or senator in the United States spends up to 80 per cent of their time fundraising and only 20 per cent of their time actually doing their job. I think that sort of system is obviously detrimental to democracy,” the Premier said. He continued: “It is staring us all in the face: what goes on in the United States with its democracy is absolutely sickening, whereby there is a massive fundraising machine that many of them engage in and essentially people who are billionaires are running for political office because they are the only ones who can afford to do so. “That is not the way we want our democracy to develop. We want everyone from all walks of life to have the opportunity to run for political office.” Moments later, McGowan was on less sure ground when he was grilled by Nationals MP Vince Catania about why Labor won’t return the $60,000 in donations it received from the troubled Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation. The Premier rebuffed calls from the Nationals and Opposition to show “leadership” by demanding the party he leads returns the cash. McGowan, and his deputy Roger Cook, insist donations are “a matter for the party” and to put those questions to the State secretary, who, for the record, told The West: “How organisations, companies or individuals choose to donate their money to any political party is a matter for them.” The money donated by BTAC allowed its board and CEO Matthew Slack to rub shoulders with McGowan and former Federal leader Bill Shorten at cash-for-access events. Serious allegations about Mr Slack and spending by BTAC were this week aired by Catania, who used parliamentary privilege to say the Thalanyji people had been “oppressed”. With the Federal watchdog-appointed special administrator poring over BTAC’s books, you can expect there will be more revelations, which means the pressure on McGowan and Labor won’t relent. Attempts to deflect by raising allegations about former Nationals leader Brendon Grylls’ involvement in BTAC or by suggesting the criticism was because of an Aboriginal organisation’s attempt to engage in the political system won’t wash. I’m told there has not been serious consideration given by WA Labor to pay back the cash. Which raises the question: How bad must the party’s finances be if it can’t even afford to return this money, end the criticism and help restore trust in politics?