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Canberra Today 14°/19° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Greens promise to sic a new local ICAC onto lobbyists

rainbow over the assembly

GREENS democracy spokesperson Indra Esguerra has released a plan to clean up politics, put people back at the centre of government decisions and crack down on lobbyists in the ACT.

“In NSW, ICAC has exposed the revolving door between developers, big business and politics. People are appalled that it is still going on, and we should not assume that we are immune here in the ACT,” Indra said.

“Big corporate interests shouldn’t get more of a say than the community. That’s why the Greens will expand the ACT Register of Lobbyists and its Code to include people who are lobbying on behalf of their corporate employers.

“The footprint that lobbyists leave should be clear for all to see. That’s why we will require six monthly disclosures of what lobbying occurred, when it happened, who stood to benefit, who was lobbied and the subject of the lobbying.

“As part of the lobbyist crackdown, the Greens would introduce real penalties and allow for investigations of complaints. These would be conducted by the Greens’ proposed ACT ICAC.

“The ACT Greens have committed to establishing an ACT Integrity Commission which will be empowered to investigate complaints about lobbyists and the MLAs they meet with.

“This goes hand in hand with our plan to ban developer donations and stop corporate money from influencing politics. Nobody should be able to buy their way into decisions that affect us all.

“Putting the community first means making sure decisions are made with the community and in the best interests of the community – and so far, it’s only the Greens who are committed to doing that,” said Ms Esguerra.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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