Qld passes law to cap political donations

Queensland parliament has passed new laws that cap how much political parties can spend to garner voters ahead of the October state election.

Limits on campaign spending will come into force within weeks after state parliament passed a suite of electoral and integrity laws on Thursday.

Some of the changes take effect just in time for this year's state election including spending limits of $57,000 for candidates endorsed by political parties. Independents will be able to spend up to $87,000.

In addition, political parties face a spending cap of $92,000 per seat.

Third-party organisations such as unions and industry bodies will be limited to $87,000 per electorate, with an overall cap of $1 million.

But new caps on donations to candidates or political parties won't take effect until 2022.

The legislation also includes consequences for ministers who fail to disclose a conflict of interest to cabinet, or fail to maintain their register of interests.

Such acts could land a minister in prison for up to two years and force them from office.