In a submission to federal parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM), Malinauskas urged his federal counterparts to “consider how a ban on political donations for state elections would interact with donations for federal elections”.

He wrote that the committee “may like to consider whether there is benefit in either alignment of state and federal laws in this area, or how federal laws could also be amended to strengthen democracy” as part of its review of the 2022 federal election.

“Before the March 2022 state election in South Australia, I made a commitment that should I form Government, my Government would move to ban all political donations for state campaigns, including from individuals, businesses, unions and other organisations,” he wrote in his submission, addressed to the committee’s chair and ACT federal Labor MP Kate Thwaites.

“It is my view, and that of my Government, that such a reform will improve public confidence in South Australia’s public institutions by removing any threat or perception of undue political influence.”

Malinauskas’ pledge is the first move of its sort in South Australia since former Liberal leader Isobel Redmond sought to crack down on big donations to political parties – a push that ultimately failed to materialise.

Anonymous donations of more than $1000 and donations from property developers, or tobacco, liquor and gambling businesses are already banned in New South Wales.

Similarly in Queensland anonymous benefactors are prevented from donating more than $1000, with property developers and their industry bodies also restricted.

Malinauskas – a former state secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees union, the power base of Labor’s Right faction and a major financial backer of the ALP – wants a South Australian ban to go further, with any restrictions on individual and corporate donations mirrored with restrictions on donations from unions and other organisations.

Shortly after the state election, he commissioned the state’s Attorney-General’s Department and Solicitor-General to provide advice on potential legal challenges that may arise from such a policy decision, with Attorney-General Kyam Maher previously saying there were “constitutional issues” that needed to be overcome.

In response to questions from InDaily, a state government spokesperson said a ban on political donations would work best at both state and federal levels, given most parties contest elections at both levels.

“For this reason, the Premier has raised the matter directly with the JSCEM review, for the federal parliament’s consideration,” they said.

The spokesperson said in advocating for a federal ban, the Premier was not delaying progress on South Australian legislation, with the Attorney-General’s Department and Solicitor-General’s advice still being considered.

“The Government has committed to having the donation ban in place before the next election and anticipates it will introduce a bill into the parliament this year,” they said.

“Banning political donations is the single biggest thing we can do to restore trust in our democracy.”

InDaily understands Maher has been in discussions with his federal counterpart Mark Dreyfus and Special Minister of State Don Farrell about how the state government is progressing with its proposed legislation.

Thwaites told InDaily that the JSCEM’s inquiry was focused on its terms of reference, which include “reforms to donation laws, particularly the applicability of ‘real time’ disclosure and a reduction of the disclosure threshold to a fixed $1000”.

She said the committee had not scheduled a hearing with Malinauskas, but its work was ongoing and due to be finalised before the end of this year.

In an opinion piece published in The West Australian last month, Thwaites argued for federal donation disclosure laws to be reformed.

“The truth is that our current Federal donation disclosure laws mean there’s a lot we don’t find out,” she wrote.

“At the moment, only donations over $15,200 have to be disclosed. And it’s only now, nine months after May’s Federal election, that information about donations is being publicly released.”

The Australian Electoral Commission’s latest disclosure list – released last month – shows unions were among the biggest donors to the SA Labor Party in 2021-22, with the shoppies union donating $125,000 and the United Workers Union contributing $161,152.

Adelaide businesswoman Sally Zou was once again the single highest donor to SA Liberal Party, handing over more than $445,000 under the trading name “Australian Romance Pty Ltd”.