Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think we just heard the reason why the member for Bowman, a member of the government, wants this bill introduced. We just heard about the last state election. What happened in the Bowman electorate when this activism happened? The seat of Bowman returned Labor members of parliament; in fact, the LNP lost seats in the electorate of Bowman. We got the fantastic new member for Redlands, Kim Richards.

So what does the LNP do? I'll put it like this. It is as if, in the PM's office, the Young Liberal apparatchiks who were sitting around, dreaming that when they got the brief they would do something in a constructive way about political donations to stop overseas donations, said: 'I know what we're going to do. We're going to get charities at the same time. We're going to roll that in. We're sick and tired of those Knitting Nannas. We're sick and tired of those people protesting outside the foreign minister's office demanding that foreign aid be increased and making demands on all those issues. We're sick and tired of walking around in the community and being criticised for our policies. You know what we're going to try and do? We're going to try and shut down the dissent. We're going to shut down the dissent!' And that's exactly what this bill and this government want to do.

You would think they were the party of freedom of speech, the party that demand that we enable freedom of speech, but what do they do when this legislation comes in? They shut down freedom of speech. But we know that those opposite—and we saw it today in this debate, talking about everything, talking about tax giveaways, talking about multinationals handouts—are not interested in the charity sector. If they were, they would not be introducing this sort of legislation, and they would be supporting the over 50,000 charities to have a voice and to speak out on behalf of the tens of thousands of members that they represent. But not the modern Liberal Party. Not the party of Menzies. This is an extreme right-wing, conservative agenda that we're seeing time in and time out, and this is the latest attack, through the charitable sector in Australia.

But I want to get to my other interest. We're seeing a collapse: the red tape that this government wants to introduce around charities. For those government members who are here, when you go back to your electorates, do a poll in your electorate for those people who donate to World Vision. Do a poll of those hardworking men and women who donate $4.80 a week to the charity of their choice—they may be sponsoring a child overseas. Your legislation, your changes that you're demanding that the Australian people support, will mean that the very people who donate $4.80 a week to World Vision will have to do paperwork of a declaration and have a JP or police officer sign that form each year. That's just for those people who want to donate to World Vision. That's what your legislation will deliver: an attack on free speech by those charities speaking out and criticising your government, and an increase in red tape.

The extreme Right has been speaking today in this debate. I want to ask them: what's changed that you're delivering this to the Australian charities sector and delivering the new commissioner, Gary Johns? There's only one answer to that. You want to stop freedom of speech and the attacks on your government. We see it time and time again. This is the quote from the new Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commissioner, Gary Johns. He said: 'There is a great deal of impure altruism in the charity business. On the donor side, there is some self-regard and some agenda chasing. On the charity side, there is agenda pushing and organisation enhancement. No set of rules could hope to create a clean market of pure motives and perfect outcomes.' That is the person that you want overseeing the charity sector. That quote says it all.

Well, I'm here to defend the charities in my electorate, those hardworking men and women who give up their time, selflessly delivering for the communities and for those right across the country. I know that, for the thousands of hours that people give up to volunteer their hard-earned time and money, they deserve much better than an attack on their organisations.

Gary Johns's appointment signals a major escalation in this government's war on charities. It shows that this government is beholden to the far Right of its party. There's absolutely no denying it. I thank the member for Fenner for putting this in the public arena, because the public deserve to know what the government wants to do to the charity sector. You can hide behind your words all you want; the charity sector and the thousands of people are on to you, and we will keep supporting them.

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