The head of Queensland's anti-corruption agency has backed a near total ban on political donations, Brisbane Times reported. Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) chair Bruce Barbour made the comments at his regular quarterly public meeting with the parliamentary crime and corruption committee on Tuesday (10 November).
"I think the South Australian model, where elections are publicly funded and the system does not support donations for the purpose of elections … is something that is very interesting, and certainly worth consideration more broadly than South Australia," Barbour said.
"I think whether it is unions, whether it is property developers, whether it is any other interest group or individual who has particular interests – paying substantial amounts of money automatically creates a perception that the purpose of those payments is to achieve some sort of access, which is not available to people who do not pay that money, and I think that's a risk."
The South Australian Model
According to the Electoral Commission of South Australia, reforms effective from 1 July 2025 prohibit donations to registered political parties, candidates, MPs and third parties, alongside new public funding arrangements for registered political parties and eligible candidates. New parties and candidates may still receive donations and loans within strict limits, including individual caps of $5,000 per donor or lender per financial year.
Brisbane Times noted some, including The Australia Institute, have criticised the public election funding push for being rushed and unfairly favouring the established major parties.
Queensland Changes
Queensland moved in the other direction this year. The Electoral Commission of Queensland says the Electoral Laws (Restoring Electoral Fairness) Amendment Act 2026 was passed on 19 February 2026 and commenced operation on 19 March 2026, removing the ban on property developer donations for State elections and changing the political donation cap period to each financial year.
The Act omits the Electoral Act's subdivision on political donations from property developers. Brisbane Times reported the change went against the advice of the CCC, and that the state's cap on political donations was quadrupled to $48,000.
Perception and Community Trust
Barbour reiterated general concerns about the risk of perceptions that people are "paying money for favours". "The moment there are meetings held in secret with significant players – whoever they are, whether they are property developers or whether they're unions – and those are not adequately recorded, there is a perception in the community that they're being done for some sort of nefarious process," he said.
"Now, that may not be the case, it may be entirely appropriate. But the perception is a very, very important indicator of community trust."
Barbour also told the committee he would not answer questions designed to cause political embarrassment. "Frequently we come here to talk about our work, and what happens is we are asked questions which are clearly designed to cause political embarrassment from one side to the other," he said.