Electoral reform legislation to cap political donations passed the Senate last week, with many crossbenchers expressing their fury at the process and the major parties claiming the moral high ground as they joined forces.

Electoral reform sounds boring, which is probably why the government hoped to squeeze a substantial change to the way Australian politics works in amongst some positive-sounding modifications late last year, without too many people noticing. After independents raised the alarm, this legislation was delayed, and is now likely to be presented in the new year.