Labor won’t let elections ‘be held hostage by rich people’ but signals it could soften donation caps for charities

‘It can’t only be rich people who can afford to run and fund electoral campaigns’ … Don Farrell says Labor is committed to political spending and donation caps. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Don Farrell has signalled that Labor could soften the impact of political spending and donation caps on charities and fundraising bodies like Climate 200 to achieve transparency without harming democratic participation.

Despite Farrell confirming that the government’s proposed $1,000 donation disclosure threshold and real-time disclosure have “got to apply to everybody”, the special minister of state promised to consider unintended consequences of spending and donation caps.