South Australian premier announces plan to ban political donations

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The South Australian premier has announced plans to ban political donations from state elections.

“It is time to get money out of politics,” said Labor Party Premier Peter Malinauskas.

Malinauskas said elections should be "determined by the quality of candidates, the power of one’s ideas."

“It shouldn’t be about money,” Malinauskas said on X.

The regional government will be proposing an electoral amendment bill, which would if passed, prohibit electoral donations and gifts to political parties, lawmakers as well as candidates.

Malinauskas said: “We don’t want a situation where elections are determined by the size of a candidate’s or a party’s war chest.”

“That’s why we’re banning all political donations,” he stressed.

“If we can level the playing field to ensure that all participants in the political process have access to an appropriate degree of funding relative to their level of support within the community, we diminish the likelihood that a campaign war chest size informs the outcome,” the premier added.