The Greens will undo years of privatisation and revitalise the Australian Public Service by restoring staffing levels and increasing wages, winding back labour hire and outsourcing, reducing politicisation and freeing public servants to participate fully in public debate.

Successive governments have outsourced Australia’s essential public services, making them more expensive, lower quality and harder to oversee. The outsourcing of jobs has seen real wages fall and employment conditions worsen, which has put downward pressure on wages and conditions in the private sector.

The Greens have announced a policy to reform the political system, clean up politics, and strengthen democracy. At the end of a bruising political year where the government remained unrepentant despite scandal after scandal, it’s clear a new approach is needed to restore public confidence in democracy.

Forensic research by the ABC has shed new light on just how important a ban on political donations from the gambiling industry is. The ABC’s Hitting the Jackpot investigation revealed that over $81million has been given since 1999 to Liberals, Labor, Nationals and minor parties. 

With gambling industry profits completely at the mercy of government regulation, the Greens say it’s clear that the gambling industry is buying influence and favour, and the Liberal, Labor and National parties are happy to comply. 

Response to PM’s letter
 
"The Greens welcome the apparent acknowledgement by the PM that the review of the complaints and support process should be conducted not by his Deputy Secretary but independently of government", said Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and Spokesperson for Women.
 
"Likewise, the Prime Minister should now make the culture review independent, not by a Liberal MP, and the Greens still assert that the Sex Discrimination Commissioner is best placed to do such a review.
 

The Greens condemn Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton for using his ministerial powers to slash millions in grant funding for community projects recommended by his department, in favour of his own handpicked list in electorally beneficial locations.

Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson for democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:

“Another day, another pork barrelling scandal.

"Ministers picking their own pet projects against departmental recommendations to secure electoral outcomes has become commonplace under the Morrison Government.

The Greens welcome Labor’s calls to limit political donations, and look forward to their support for the Greens bill to cap all donations at $1,000 a year when it is debated on 15 February.
 
Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson for democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:
 
“The Greens have fought for years to clean up our democracy and put a cap on donations of $1,000 a year no matter who you are: big corporation, union, or individual. We’re glad that, after years of opposing Greens moves to cap donations, Labor has decided to change their tune.
 

The political donations data released today once again shows how corporations are buying influence in the major parties, said Greens Leader in the Senate and democracy spokesperson, Senator Larissa Waters.
 
“We know that political donations to the two major parties have tripled between the 2016 and 2019 elections, and that big money is playing more and more of a role in our politics,” Senator Waters said.
 
“Political parties still raked in over $150 million in donations from big corporations in the last financial year even though it wasn’t an election year.

Data shows more Australians are concerned about political corruption and doubt the Government’s ability to clean up our democracy, Greens Leader in the Senate, Senator Larissa Waters said.
 
Today’s report from Griffith University and Transparency International Australia found the number of Australians who view corruption as a “very big” or “quite big” problem, rising from 61% in 2018 to 66% in 2020. The number of those who think the federal government is handling corruption issues “very badly” has also risen from 15% to 19.4% over the same period.
 

The Greens echo the Australian Federal Police Association’s description of the Morrison Government’s sham integrity commission as nothing more than a “protection racket” for government MPs.
 
Greens Leader in the Senate and Spokesperson on Democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:
 
“The Morrison Government has designed its sham integrity commission to shield their mates from proper scrutiny. It wants one rule for its politicians, and another for everyone else.
 

Revelations that the Finance Department inquiry into Assistant Minister Michael Sukkar was outsourced to the law firm he used to work for is further proof Australia urgently needs a federal corruption watchdog, Greens say. 

Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson for Democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:

"This is just another outrageous example of why we need an independent federal corruption watchdog. Mates investigating mates won't stop corruption.