The people of Western Australia should be confident that political parties will be open about who is funding them.
Attorney General Jim McGinty said the public had a right to expect transparency from political parties when significant amounts of money were involved.
“Last night, the Liberal Party voted to keep donations secret from the people of WA,” Mr McGinty said.
“They voted to reject legislation to reduce the threshold at which political parties must make the names of donors public. Currently the amount is $1,800. We’re suggesting that this be lowered to $1,000 - bringing WA into line with proposed changes to Commonwealth law governing the Federal political parties.
“The Honourable Norman Moore admitted that the Liberals see secret donations from private individuals and business as the only way they can survive:
‘That is what Mr McGinty intends to be the case. He not only wants to change the electoral system to make sure the Labor Party stays in office forever, he also wants to change the political donations system to achieve a similar end.’
“Mr Moore went on to make the allegation that:
'Many people will not give donations if their name is to be disclosed, because they fear incrimination and victimisation by the Labor Party. And so we need to have a reasonable lever where people can make a contribution and not have their name made public.'
Attorney General's office - 9422 3000 
