Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fenner, Dr Leigh, for his speech just now. I joined with the member for Fenner in meeting with representatives of dozens of charities in Canberra this week. Those representatives of dozens of charities came to Canberra because they are concerned about this government's latest assault on charities. Unfortunately, it is an attack that is being carried out on multiple fronts. The Liberal Party has a long history of attacking charities, going right back to the Howard government when Peter Costello, as Treasurer, tried to prevent charities, through the use of tax laws, from continuing their vital role in advocacy. The Liberal Party has never understood the proper role of charities in advocating for changes in government policy, which is why they attack charities that engage in advocacy and attempt to shut them down.

As we've just heard from the member for Fenner, there are proposed amendments to our electoral donations law which will have a drastic impact on charities and the vitally important work that they do. That vital work that charities do has become even more important in recent years as the Abbott and Turnbull governments have driven up living costs and cut vital services, leaving more and more Australians in need of the help that charities provide. The government claim that they have to cut because there just isn't enough money. But, of course, they have no trouble putting together $65 billion to hand to the big end of town.

The attack on charities in the donations bill was concerning enough, but the government has opened up another front, whether by design or inadvertence, in the form of the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017. The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill is one of four national security bills in the package that was brought into the parliament on the last sitting day of 2017. This particular bill was introduced by the Prime Minister himself. Of course, we agree with the government that any attempt by foreign powers to disrupt or influence our democratic processes must be stopped. We accept the comments that are being made by ASIO about the work of foreign powers 'clandestinely seeking to shape the opinions of members of the Australian public, media organisations and government officials in order to advance their country's own political objectives'.

Our commitment is, of course, to bipartisanship on national security matters, but it does not extend to giving the government a blank cheque to do what it wants. We'll engage with the government constructively on the national security laws. It is through the process in the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security that we've successfully argued for a very large number of amendments to the various national security laws introduced by the government since 2014. We are adopting that same approach to the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill, but it is a bill which introduces an onerous registration scheme for individuals or entities said to be undertaking certain activities on behalf of a foreign principal.

Laughably, the member for Deakin has just had the gall to suggest that the government wanted to reduce red tape for the charities sector. This bill increases red tape for the charities sector. The effect of extraordinarily expansive definitions in the scheme means that the bill will capture Australian charities whose conduct, activities and purposes are entirely benign and completely benefit our nation. This will be imposed on charities despite the fact that these charities are all already closely regulated by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. These charities contribute in an overwhelmingly positive manner to our society, but the effect of this bill, as it stands, will be to strangle many of them in wasteful and unnecessary regulation. I hope that that effect is only the unintended consequence of this bill—a consequence of sloppy drafting; the origin of which was made clear by the former Attorney-General's claim that he was closely involved in the formulation of the bill. But, if on the other hand, this is the intended effect of the bill—to silence charities—it is truly shameful. The proposed exemptions in the bill are exceptionally narrow and, with respect to charities, relate solely to an activity the person or entity undertakes in relation to humanitarian aid or humanitarian assistance.

We in the Labor Party think that giving in to an assault by the government on Australian civil society is an abdication of our responsibility to protect and nurture the crucial role that Australian civil society plays in creating a fair and equal nation. I will finish with a letter I got from the Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, who said to me in that letter last week: 'The bill is drafted with significant breadth and will likely capture any charity— (Time expired)

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