Howard pockets donations for influence at tonight's Sydney fundraiser

"Voters have the right to see who is using such occasions to buy influence, before they cast their vote at the ballot box,” Ms Rhiannon said.

"Australia is lagging behind other democracies, for example the UK where parties must submit quarterly donation returns, increasing to weekly during an election period.

"Business leaders are not spending a $1,000 a head to take a seat at Howard's table just for the company.

"This fundraiser at a swanky Sydney hotel is a clear case of access buying and cheque-book democracy.

"The big end of town knows $1,000 buys the opportunity to bend an ear and negotiate deals. In return Howard receives thousands of dollars for his election war chest.

"The Federal Coalition amended donations laws so that from December 2005 only the source of donations above $10,000 must be disclosed. The former threshold was $1,500.

"With this new threshold it is estimated that 40 percent of donations to political parties will remain undisclosed, according to an analysis of previous years’ Australian Electoral Commission data.

"While countries like Canada, New Zealand and Britain have acted to ban or limit political donations, the Howard government is moving us in the opposite direction.

"The Greens NSW are calling on the major parties to adopt its policy of continuous disclosure of donations.

"In the 2007 NSW election Greens candidates made all donations over $200 public on the Greens website within 7 days of receiving them.

"Under the present system of political donations democracy has been put up for sale," Ms Rhiannon said.

Contact: Lee Rhiannon 9230 3551, 0427 861 568.