Judges strike down Premier O'Farrell's banning of unions making political donations Premier Barry O'Farrell: laws struck down. THE High Court has struck down Premier Barry O'Farrell's election funding laws, that banned unions making political donations. The laws, passed in February last year, restricted political donations to individuals only, banning the Labor Party from accepting union affiliation fees used for administration, worth about $1 million to the party annually. They also banned unions from running political campaigns in the lead up to an election. The court found that Mr O'Farrell's laws were unconstitutional. [The laws] are invalid because they impremissibly burden the implied freedom of communication on government and political matters, contrary to the Commonwealth Constitution. Labor general secretary Jamie Clements: "you can't play politics with democracy." Mr O'Farrell said the laws would stop the "decisions for donations culture" that had pervaded the state during NSW Labor's administration. NSW Labor General Secretary Jamie Clements said made it clear to Mr O'Farrell that "you can't play politics with democracy." These laws were designed to favour rich individuals at the expense of working people in NSW. Unions NSW assistant secretary Mark Morey said he was "ecstatic" about the court's decision. It signifies that you can't seek to marginalise community-based organisations that come together and pool their resources in order to participate in the political process. The state government will have to pay costs, which are more than $200,000. Labor's shadow special minister of state Peter Primrose welcomed the decision. This was an attempt by Barry O'Farrell to Americanise our political system by ensuring only the rich can contribute - and it has failed. Labor wholeheartedly welcomes today's decision. This is a big win for democracy," he said. Mr O'Farrell said he was disappointed by the High Court's ruling, but said he would attempt to reinstate the donation ban when electoral funding legislation is redrafted. "Reforms were put in place to address corruption risks around decisions for donations under the former government, and as we've already announced we are about to redraft the electoral funding legislation," Mr O'Farrell said. We'll take account of the decision and see what we can do to ensure our reforms are there. Whether its outlaw motorcycle gangs taking action to try and stop our consorting laws, or Labor and its union affiliates trying to stop our anti-corruption donation measures, we're not going to be put off.