A weak bill and undisclosed payments

After three years, the Morrison government has not legislated a national integrity commission as promised. Retired judge Stephen Charles describes the government’s weak draft integrity bill as “a sham intended to protect” parliamentarians and their staff from investigation (“The case for a national integrity commission”, February 5-11).

After the sports and car park rorts, that conclusion is hardly surprising. Muddying the integrity waters are the millions of dollars in undisclosed political donations from the fossil-fuel industry (Hannah Ryan, “Dark money and receipts”, February 5-11). It would be better if donations were made only by citizens, similar to Canada. Transparency International argues donations should be capped and the disclosure threshold lowered. A vote for independents at the election is a vote for integrity, transparency and climate action. Seems like the way to go.

– Carolyn Ingvarson, Canterbury, Vic