Could South Australia’s proposed ban on political donations run into trouble in the courts?

Sebastian Long

In March 2022, the Labor Party defeated the Liberal government in the South Australian election. Amongst the promises campaigned on by the victorious new Premier, the Hon Peter Malinauskas MP, was a commitment to ban political donations. It would be over two years before any such plan was announced, with the Attorney-General, the Hon Kyam Maher MLC, remarking in August 2022 that ‘[t]here are constitutional issues we need to look at when we do the drafting to make sure we overcome’. But on 12 June 2024, the Premier released a draft of the Electoral (Accountability and Integrity) Amendment Bill 2024 (Draft Bill or DB), with his government’s intention clear: ‘We want money out of politics’. At the time of writing, public consultation on the Bill has ended and we await its results.