China’s slush funding influence on Australia’s major political parties has become a hot political issue in Canberra as the 45th parliament is set to open.

The push from a feisty 11 member senate cross bench, the largest in the chamber’s history, is about to turn into shove when it comes to the exercise of power.

With Fairfax Media and the ABC reporting on political donations from Chinese tycoons and state-owned entities to Liberal Party branches and the ALP, the parliament will soon have to deal with bills to prohibit all foreign-sourced donations.

The ABC has reported that Chinese-linked donors had contributed $5.5million to the Labor and Liberal parties from 2013 to 2015. More Chinese donations are expected to be revealed next February in the next public disclosure post-election.

In tracking Chinese-linked donations to the WA branch of the Liberal Party where Foreign Minister Julie Bishop resides, Fairfax reported that the Australian Electoral Commission now acknowledged a loophole where overseas donors could not be compelled to comply with Australian disclosure law when they are not in Australia.

While noting Minister Bishop’s fulsome praise for some of the Liberal donors, Fairfax has not alleged any impropriety.

Senator Nick Xenophon, now joined by two more NXT  senators, has already flagged a donations reform bill. 

Also supporting donations reform is Labor’s former treasurer Wayne Swan and the Greens with support certain to come from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and other cross benchers. 

Whether motivated by xenophobia, probity or national sovereignty,  political donations reform in now on the new parliament’s priority agenda.

No same-sex marriage plebiscite? 39 is the magic number

With the Greens declaring it will reject the Turnbull government’s enabling legislation for its promised same sex marriage plebiscite, push will also come to shove on this reform.

The magic number here is 39 … a senate majority. With Labor’s 26, the Greens 9, Nick Xenophon Team three and new Senator Derry Hinch … that’s 39.  No plebiscite.

The Greens this week declared their position. Judging by his National Press Club address warning of a distressing homophobic backlash unleashed by a plebiscite debate, Bill Shorten and Labor also seem certain to block the plebiscite, saving a reported $160million.

The big question then?  Where does this leave marriage equality in Australia?

There are fears a plebiscite campaign could lead to harmful confrontations. Source: ABC

The answer lies in the House of Representatives where any private member’s bill on SSM can only jump the Turnbull government’s legislative queue if supportive Liberal or Nationals back bench MPs are prepared to cross the floor.

By all reports those supportive MPs are now considering such a course. 

Because SSM is not a confidence issue the carriage of such a bill will not bring the Turnbull government down.

But it would end Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s party room dilemma after having inherited the plebiscite idea, a diversionary tactic, devised by his cunning predecessor, Tony Abbott.   

ScoMo’s big scare

But what about budget repair, arguably the biggest issue facing Australia?

Treasurer Scott Morrison this week set down Treasury’s increasingly desperate case for urgently fixing both expenditure and revenue.

On Thursday, Treasurer Scott Morrison warned of a rift between “the taxed and taxed-nots”.

But instead of seizing on Labor’s offer for negotiated bi-partisanship Mr Morrison went all scary, saying that with recurrent deficits compounding, in 10 years public sector debt would reach  a trillion dollars. 

And instead of appealing for fairness from all sectors he seemed to repeat former Treasurer Joe Hockey’s remonstration about an entitlement culture in Australia with his ‘taxed and not taxed’ observation.

Quentin Dempster is a Walkley Award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster with decades of experience. He is a veteran of the ABC newsroom and has worked with a number of print titles including theSydney Morning Herald. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 1992 for services to journalism.