Labor calls for taxpayer-funded elections

The NSW opposition is calling for taxpayer-funded election campaigns in the wake of the state's latest corruption scandal.

Labor leader John Robertson wants ministers' diaries to be published on a monthly basis to show any contact with lobbyists and a parliamentary inspector general to enforce disclosure rules.

It follows ex-police minister Mike Gallacher's resignation on Friday over a cash-for-favours scandal that has engulfed the NSW Liberal Party.
 
In a bid to restore public confidence in NSW politics, Mr Robertson wrote to Premier Mike Baird calling for an urgent ban on political donations and the introduction of publicly-funded election campaigns.

"What we've seen playing out at ICAC over the last few weeks is nothing short of damning of politics in NSW and has made public confidence hit rock bottom," he told reporters.

"The time for the debate is over on funding of election campaigns. What we need to see this week is action."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it would be wrong to slug taxpayers at a time of budget austerity.

"All political parties have to raise money," he told the Nine Network.

"The alternative to fundraising in this time-honoured way is taxpayer funding."

NSW Labor is not untouched by graft allegations.

Mr Robertson will on Monday front a parliamentary inquiry to give evidence over a $3 million bribe he was allegedly offered in 2007, when he was boss of Unions NSW, from  standover man Michael McGurk, who was later murdered.

Mr Robertson insists he has nothing to hide and claims the inquiry is a Liberal attempt to distract from the ongoing ICAC hearings.

In his letter to Mr Baird, Mr Robertson suggested a series of measures, including greater disclosure of MPs' pecuniary interests - including those of close family members.

He suggested a ban on secondary employment for MPs and better protections for whistleblowers who report corruption and misconduct.
 
Mr Baird has previously indicated his support for a publicly-funded model for election campaigns.
 
The Premier's office refused to say whether he would support the other measures or whether he would meet Mr Robertson to discuss the proposed reforms.

NSW Greens MP John Kaye supports moving to a public funding model but doubts Mr Baird and Mr Robertson are the right people to clean up the system.
 
"This is about creating a system where politics is conducted by a competition of ideas, not a competition of who can raise the most money or who can spend the most money," Dr Kaye told reporters.


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Source: AAP


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