The head of the Transport Workers Union has a recommendation which could deliver a better standard of politician.

ALP national vice-president and Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon says a federal body should be set up to tackle corruption on the national level.

Like the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) does in New South Wales, Mr Sheldon says a federal watchdog is needed to clean up the entire political machine.

Sheldon told Sky News that from his perspective, a federal ICAC “should actually be a requirement”.

“I see it quite clearly, and certainly from all indications from the Prime Minister, he is opposed to it,” he said.

“We need to have a capacity to investigate bureaucracies, politicians, and we’ve seen in NSW (attempted corruption) doesn’t stop at the borders.

“It doesn’t stop at the borders when somebody’s trying to buy a favour, whether it be in local government or in state politics,” he said.

“Rules need to be changed. Transparency is important and making sure we have the accountability of those donations are critical.”

The transport leader said the NSW ICAC makes the state a better place to do business, and is not what makes the government “ungovernable”.

“I don’t believe [ICAC] has made NSW ungovernable in itself, what it’s done is ultimately it will expose where there’s corrupt practices. That’s healthy for politics and healthy for democracy,” he said.

Mr Sheldon has pointed to the system running in parts of the US, where parties use real-time assessments for donations, and those donors are publicly identified.

“Political parties should be vetting the money they receive. In the case of the Labor Party, we should be testing to say ‘is the donor … donating from within the policies of the party? Are they environmentally sound? Do they have proper Labor standards?’,” he said.