End corporate donations to political parties

Daily writing prompt

If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?

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We cannot have any kind of democracy when governments are beholden to the interests of corporations and the very rich.

In Australia The Greens and various minor parties do not accept corporate donations, but the two major parties can’t get enough of them. This means, in practice, that all our laws are made in consultation with corporations, whose interests (to grow market share and share prices, no matter the cost) can never align with environmental protection or with the needs and wishes of everyday Australians (aka The Voters, who the government is Supposed to represent).

So I would make it illegal for political parties to receive donations from corporations. And I would cap the amount of money that can be donated by any one individual. At the moment, despite minor reforms in 2025, the Very Rich, who do tend to be aligned to their massive Corporate Interests (eg mining magnate Gina Rinehart), can pretty much donate as much as they like, and therefore can effectively make our government, or particular candidates, their puppets.¹

If I got a second bite at the cherry, I would also scrap parliament’s two-party adversarial system, based (I believe) on England’s Westminster System. The system is outdated and unhealthy.

In Australia two parties (Labor and the Liberal-National coalition), who maybe used to represent the Left and the Right, currently pretend to fight it out in parliament. In reality, they are both Right of the Centre these days. They collude on every major decision. They are heavily under the thumb of big daddy USA and decide everything in line with its interests.

For example, this week, a head of state wanted by the United Nations’ International Court for war crimes (Isaac Herzog) was invited to visit, courted, wined and dined, and even invited to speak at our parliament. If we were to fulfil our obligations under international law, he would have been arrested and deported after setting foot on our soil.

If the two-party system was dismantled, the diverse voices in parliament—such as independent candidates, The Greens and other minor parties—could finally be heard.

1. https://www.aec.gov.au/FADReform/ ↩︎