Future mortgaged to the mining past

In 2008 there was surprise when the coal company, China Shenhua, paid the NSW government $300 million for its exploration license. As a NSW parliamentarian at the time, my office investigated what we might usually expect from such deals. The highest amount for an exploration license we could find at the time had been about $10 million.

Additional to this payment this Chinese government owned business, the second largest coal-producing company in the world, put up $175 million for transport infrastructure, and committed to pay a further $200 million to the NSW government if a mining lease was eventually granted.

While these payments were negotiated under the previous Labor government, these millions of dollars also bring benefits to the current NSW Coalition government.

This style of doing business - where companies hand over millions of dollars for their projects before they are approved - makes a mockery of the planning laws and adds to the public cynicism and suspicion that deals are done behind closed doors.

As long as companies are allowed to hand over large sums of money to political parties, and to governments, there will be the perception that they are doing so to buy influence with decisions makers.

That's not good for the democratic workings of our governments and parliaments, let alone for consolidating protection of our invaluable farming land.

Labor and the Coalition should support the Greens' Donations Reform Bill which would ban donations from the mining industry, if they want to restore the confidence of the Australian public in the political process.

Lee Rhiannon is a senator for New South Wales, elected at the 2010 federal election, representing the Australian Greens. She is the Greens spokesperson on Democracy and Local Government.