Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Unions NSW: Political Donations High Court Challenge

Unions are concerned that conservative state governments are pushing to ''silence'' them nationally after Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia joined NSW in defending its political donations laws against a landmark High Court challenge.

A hearing is due to begin today in the case that has been launched by the peak body Unions NSW and five unions in a bid to have the NSW government's donations laws declared unconstitutional.

The laws ban corporations and associations from making political donations in state and local government elections in NSW.

They also restrict how much the Labor Party and its affiliated unions can spend on advertising during an election campaign by counting expenditure by unions against the total amount the party is allowed to spend.

The attorneys-general of Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and the Commonwealth have ''intervened'' in the case to support the NSW defence.

Labor and the union movement have accused NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell of using the laws, which he has cast as an attempt to reduce the influence of donations in NSW politics, to attack their ability to contest elections.

The unions will argue in the High Court that the laws restrict the freedom of political communication implied in the NSW and federal constitutions.

The secretary of Unions NSW, Mark Lennon, said the decision to intervene ''shows there is a clear agenda to silence the political voice of working people, not just in NSW but across the country''.

''Working people have always pooled resources to express themselves politically,'' he said. ''The point of our case is to make sure that can continue and we have robust political representation in this country''.

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