The authors of this paper argue that targeted reforms are needed to introduce transparency and diversity into federal political finance: disclosing political contributions in real time, publishing ministers’ diaries, stopping the very wealthy from dominating election spending, making public funding accessible to new entrants and restricting corporate cash-for-access payments.

The Australia Institute has prepared this submission for the Federal Senate inquiry examining the conflict of interest risks associated with government contracts with consultants, the need for better oversight, and the case for professional standards in the consulting sector.

Constructive and non-partisan political finance reform could improve trust in politics and reduce the influence of vested interests. The author of this paper argues that if Australian political finance reform is done poorly, it could make elections less fair, and conceal, rather than expose, the undue influence moneyed interests enjoy over Australia's politicians and parties.

This paper examines the entitlements of federal parliamentarians, to illustrate the scale of the advantages of political incumbency that should be taken into account in the design and implementation of any campaign finance reforms.

The authors of this paper argue that in the absence of data from major Australian media participants, it is not possible to directly calculate how many additional journalists Australia has thanks to the mandatory bargaining code.