The South Australian government has vowed to push on with plans to abolish all donations to political parties in the wake of a controversial gift from the construction industry union.
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The party took its proposal to ban donations to the March state election, and Premier Peter Malinauskas is determined to get rid of them.
"If I get my way we will deliver what will be one of the most progressive step changes in the operation of parliamentary democracy that we've seen in a generation," he said.
"My view is political donations don't enhance the democratic process. So let's remove them from the equation altogether."
The premier's comments came after the SA Labor Party executive decided on Monday to return the CFMEU's $125,000 donation which had caused a storm.
The money had been provided by the Victorian branch of the union, run by controversial figure John Setka, before the March state election.
In light of Mr Setka's 2019 conviction for harassing his wife, it prompted calls for Labor to return the money or donate it to a domestic violence charity.
Mr Malinauskas initially resisted calls to give back the cash, but changed his view on the weekend after learning of allegations that cars belonging to the Master Builders Association had been vandalised.
He had previously warned that bad behaviour in the construction sector would not be tolerated.
But CFMEU SA branch secretary Andrew Sutherland said no allegations of vandalism had been put directly to the union, and he called on the premier to provide any proof that union officials or employees were involved.
"If the premier has evidence that would assist the CFMEU in investigating the matter, we ask that he provide it to us without further delay," Mr Sutherland said in a statement.
"The CFMEU does not, and has not, authorised, encouraged, or sanctioned any acts of vandalism."
More broadly, Mr Sutherland said the donation to Labor was made by the Victorian-Tasmanian branch on behalf of its 28,000 members, and in cooperation with the SA division's 2000 members.
He said it was not made personally by any official and was no different to donations made by any other union.
In relation to banning donations altogether, Attorney-General Kyam Maher said work had begun on legislation to implement the change, including resolving constitutional issues.
"It is something as a Labor government we feel very strongly about," he said.
"Election campaigns are a contest of ideas, not a contest of money."
Australian Associated Press
