Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present a supplementary explanatory memorandum to the bill. I move the government amendment as circulated:

(1) Page 3 (after line 18), at the end of the Bill, add:

Schedule 2 — Other amendments

Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

1 Section 286A

Before "or third parties must not be made by foreign donors", insert ", associated entities".

2 Subsection 287AB(3)

After "political entity,", insert "a person or entity that is (or is required to be registered as) a political campaigner or an associated entity,".

3 After paragraph 287F(1)(b)

Insert:

; or (c) during that financial year the person or entity operates for the dominant purpose of fundraising amounts:

(i) the aggregate of which is at least equal to the disclosure threshold; and

(ii) that are for the purpose of incurring electoral expenditure or that are to be gifted to another person or entity for the purpose of incurring electoral expenditure.

4 Subsection 287F(3)

Omit "must not incur further electoral expenditure in that financial year if the person or entity is not registered as a political campaigner", substitute:

must not:

(a) incur any, or any further, electoral expenditure; or

(b) fundraise any, or any further, amounts for the purpose of incurring electoral expenditure;

in that financial year, after becoming required to be so registered, if the person or entity is not registered as a political campaigner.

5 Subsection 287F(3) (paragraph (b) of the penalty)

After "this subsection", insert "(if any), or the amount, or an estimate of the amount, fundraised in contravention of this subsection (if any), or both".

6 At the end of subsection 287H(1)

Add:

; (g) the entity operates wholly, or to a significant extent, for the benefit of one or more disclosure entities and the benefit relates to one or more electoral activities (whether or not the electoral activities are undertaken during an election period).

Note: For the meaning of disclosure entity, see subsection (4).

7 At the end of section 287H

Add:

(4) The reference in paragraph (1)(g) to a disclosure entity is a reference to a person or entity that is covered by paragraph (aa) or any of paragraphs (c) to (f) of the definition of disclosure entity in section 321B.

(5) To avoid doubt, the reference in paragraph (1)(g) to a benefit that relates to an electoral activity includes:

(a) fundraising amounts, of at least equal to the disclosure threshold, for the purpose of incurring electoral expenditure; and

(b) assisting in the creation or communication of electoral matter; and

(c) otherwise facilitating the interests of a disclosure entity with respect to preparing for, or participating in, an election.

8 Subparagraph 287K(2)(b)(ii)

After "registered political party", insert ", and any disclosure entity referred to in paragraph 287H(1)(g),".

9 Paragraph 287N(2)(c)

After "registered political parties", insert ", and any disclosure entities referred to in paragraph 287H(1)(g),".

10 Subparagraph 287S(1)(c)(v)

After "registered political party" (wherever occurring), insert "or a disclosure entity referred to in paragraph 287H(1)(g)".

11 Subparagraph 287S(1)(c)(v)

Omit "; and", substitute "; or".

12 At the end of paragraph 287S(1)(c)

Add:

(vi) the relevant person does not operate wholly, or to a significant extent, for the dominant purpose of fundraising amounts that are for the purpose of incurring electoral expenditure or that are to be gifted to another person or entity for the purpose of incurring electoral expenditure; and

13 Section 302A

Omit "political campaigners and third parties", substitute "political campaigners, associated entities and third parties".

14 Section 302A

Omit "or political campaigners", substitute ", political campaigners or associated entities".

15 Section 302A

Omit "political campaigner or third party", substitute "political campaigner, associated entity or third party".

16 Section 302D (heading)

Omit "and political campaigners", substitute ", political campaigners and associated entities".

17 Subparagraph 302D(1)(a)(ii)

After "political campaigner", insert "or an associated entity".

18 Paragraph 302D(1A)(a)

Omit "or political campaigner", substitute ", political campaigner or associated entity".

19 Subparagraph 302F(1)(a)(ii)

After "political campaigner", insert "or an associated entity".

20 Paragraph 302F(1)(b)

After "political campaigner", insert ", associated entity".

21 After subparagraph 302F(2)(c)(ii)

Insert:

(iia) an associated entity; or

22 Paragraphs 302H(1)(b) and (c)

After "political campaigner" (wherever occurring), insert ", associated entity".

23 Subsection 314AB(1) (paragraph (b) of the penalty)

Omit "subparagraph (2)(b)(ii)", substitute "(b)".

24 After subsection 314AB(3)

Insert:

(3A) If:

(a) a person or entity is registered as a political campaigner for a financial year (the current financial year); and

(b) the person or entity was not required to be registered as a political campaigner for the previous financial year;

the financial controller of the political campaigner must provide a return, that complies with subsection (2) and is in an approved form, for the previous financial year by the end of the period of 30 days after the person or entity is registered as a political campaigner for the current financial year.

Civil penalty:

The higher of the following:

(a) 120 penalty units;

(b) if an amount is not disclosed under paragraph (2)(a) or (b) and there is sufficient evidence for the court to determine the amount, or an estimate of the amount, not disclosed—3 times that amount.

(3B) If, in complying with subsection (2), a return that is required to be provided under subsection (3A) would include no amounts or details, the return provided must include a statement to the effect that there are no amounts or details to be included.

(3C) Despite anything in this section, a return provided under this section in respect of a political campaigner who is an individual is not required to include the following:

(a) any amounts, or the details of any discretionary benefits, received by, or on behalf of, the campaigner in a purely personal capacity;

(b) any amounts paid by, or on behalf of, the campaigner for personal purposes and not solely or substantially for a purpose related to an election;

(c) the amount, or other details, of any debt incurred by, or on behalf of, the campaigner in a purely personal capacity.

25 Subsection 314AB(4)

After "subsection (1)", insert "or (3A)".

26 Subsection 314AEA(2)

Repeal the subsection, substitute:

(2) Subject to subsection (6), if:

(a) an entity is registered as an associated entity for a financial year (the current financial year); and

(b) the entity was not required to be registered as an associated entity for the previous financial year;

the financial controller of the associated entity must provide a return to the Electoral Commission, in the approved form, by the end of the period of 30 days after the entity is registered as an associated entity for the current financial year, setting out:

(c) the total amount received by, or on behalf of, the entity during the previous financial year, together with the details required by section 314AC; and

(d) the total amount paid by, or on behalf of, the entity during the previous financial year; and

(e) the total outstanding amount, as at the end of the previous financial year, of all debts incurred by or on behalf of the entity, together with the details required by section 314AE; and

(f) details of any discretionary benefits (however described) received by, or on behalf of, the entity from the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory during the previous financial year.

Civil penalty:

The higher of the following:

(a) 60 penalty units;

(b) if there is sufficient evidence for the court to determine the amount, or an estimate of the amount, not disclosed in accordance with subsection (2)—3 times that amount.

27 Subsection 314AEA(3)

Omit "If any", substitute "For a return under subsection (1) or (2), if any".

28 Subsection 314AEA(3)

After "paragraph (1)(b)", insert "or (2)(d) (as the case may be)".

29 Subsection 314AEA(4)

Omit "this section", substitute "subsection (1) or (2)".

30 Subsection 314AEA(5)

After "paragraphs (1)(a), (b) and (c)", insert "and (2)(c), (d) and (e)".

31 Subsection 314AEA(6)

After "subsection (1)", insert "or (2)".

32 After subsection 314AEA(6)

Insert:

(6A) If a return that is required to be provided under subsection (2) would include no amounts or details, the return provided must include a statement to the effect that there are no amounts or details to be included.

33 Subsection 314AEA(7)

After "subsection (1)", insert "or (2)".

34 After subsection 316(2A)

Insert:

(2AB) The period specified in a notice for the purposes of paragraph (2A)(c) must be no longer than 30 days after the date of the notice.

35 Application of amendments

(1) For the purposes of Part XX of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, references to financial years, in subsections 287F(1) and 287H(1) of that Act as amended by this Schedule, include references to financial years beginning before this item commences.

Note: The effect of this subitem is that a person or entity may be required to be registered as a political campaigner or associated entity before the end of 90 days after the commencement of this item (see subsections 287F(2) and 287H(2) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918).

(2) Subject to subitem (3), subsection 314AB(3A) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, as inserted by this Schedule, applies in relation to a political campaigner for the financial year in which this item commences and later financial years.

(3) If a person or entity is a political campaigner immediately before the commencement of this item, subsection 314AB(3A) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, as inserted by this Schedule, has effect in relation to that political campaigner as if "30 days after the person or entity is registered as a political campaigner for the current financial year" were omitted and "30 days after the commencement of this subsection" were substituted.

(4) Subject to subitem (5), subsection 314AEA(2) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, as substituted by this Schedule, applies in relation to an associated entity for the financial year in which this item commences and later financial years.

(5) If a person or entity is an associated entity immediately before the commencement of this item, subsection 314AEA(2) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, as substituted by this Schedule, has effect in relation to that associated entity as if "30 days after the entity is registered as an associated entity for the current financial year" were omitted and "30 days after the commencement of this subsection" were substituted.

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We see here a government so bereft of ideas that it has filled the legislative agenda with one thing: bills designed to rort the next election to their benefit—including this bill, which is designed to silence any critics. I outlined Labor's position on this bill only four hours ago, and since then the government has put before the House 35 amendments. Those are 35 amendments that we have not had the chance to consider. Those are 35 amendments that civil society, those organisations directly affected and those organisations sought to be silenced by this rotten, dysfunctional government, have not had the chance to consider. Who knows what grubby deal animates these amendments? Who knows what substantive effect these amendments are going to have?

All we know is the government isn't very proud of them. Look at the member for Goldstein walking away from the dispatch box. Where's the Special Minister of State, the minister who clearly crafted these and has not given the House the courtesy to sum up the bill nor to speak to these amendments. He's more concerned with dealing with Pauline Hanson's One Nation than dealing with matters on the floor of the House of Representatives as he should. That says just about everything that needs to be said about this government and its agenda. I hope the member for Tangney, the minister, will speak to these amendments and perhaps share his thinking about the effect that they will have on the conduct of an election that could take place at the very start of next year.

All four bills the government has introduced in these sitting weeks will have a significant impact on the conduct of the next election. The most egregious one, of course, is the voter suppression proposal, which we may be debating tomorrow. The voter suppression proposal sees us, if the government gets its way, introduce the very worst aspects of the United States's democracy into Australia. But we can't overlook this bill and its potential effect.

For more than eight years, members of this government have sought to shut down dissenting voices. Indeed, they have sought to shut down any voice that is not unequivocally on their side. That really goes to the heart of what is before us now: a government that won't listen, a government that won't engage and a government that cannot see the national interest beyond its short-term political interest. In my view, on my brief consideration of them, these amendments will make a bad bill worse. It may be that some of these amendments serve some useful purpose. But we, who are about to be asked to vote on all of them, have no basis to make that determination.

We all heard the member for Goldstein. One thing I think we can all agree on about the member for Goldstein is that he generally likes his time at the dispatch box; it took him a long time to get there! How striking was it that he did not take the opportunity to lecture us about freedom? This bill is not about freedom; it's about cracking down on the freedoms enjoyed by Australians who don't have the privilege of being in this place, by Australians who don't have the privilege of being part of a registered political party that takes its place in these processes. Any reasonable view of democracy requires us to ensure that all voices are heard. Indeed, that is something that most Australians are proud of when it comes to our democracy—a system of compulsory voting based also on compulsory enrolment and on making sure that everyone gets their say and that everyone's perspective is brought to this place.

But everyone's perspective, even in this place, cannot be properly applied to these amendments, because Labor and the crossbench have not had the chance to consider them. Labor and the crossbench have not heard any argument in support of them. But we, I think, can be assured in our suspicions of the motivations of members opposite, because there has been a consistent approach here by this government, which won't run on its record at the next election because it has no record to run on. It won't run on a positive vision for Australia because it does not have one. In fact, the government's contempt for the Australian people is summed up in this bill and in the other bills they are putting forward because they know they have no persuasive case to make at the next election. They know they won't be listened to and their only path to victory is to cuddle up to the far Right on the one hand and to deny other voices a chance to speak and, indeed, as we will see later this week, a chance to vote. This is disgraceful legislation. These amendments make it worse. They need to be opposed.

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

DT (—) (): You know something is going on when the government comes in to move amendments to its own legislation, the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Political Campaigners) Bill 2021, and no-one even speaks in favour of them—the minister doesn't speak, the assistant minister does not speak and the member who talks about freedom at every opportunity he can doesn't even speak! Instead, we are given 35 amendments and asked to vote on them straightaway without anyone from the government even speaking to them. Why? Even on the most cursory reading of them, you can see that there are problems. Just in the short time that we've had available to look at these, amendments (2) and (24), for example, when looked at together not only add to a bill that restricts freedom of speech, because the government does not like what organisations, charities and people working with people who are doing it tough say from time to time, but actually make some of it retrospective. That's on our quick reading from having had a look at them. These organisations not only are going to be placed under restrictions about what they can say from now on but are going to have to go back, if we've read these correctly in the short time we've had, and look at their books and account for their expenditure over previous years when this law was not even in place. So during an election time, when everyone from charities to organisations to welfare groups should have the right to say, 'Hey, hang on; we are a rich country in Australia and we need laws that look after everyone,' they are now going to be tied up with bookkeeping and requirements for previous years before the law even came into effect.

As the previous speaker said, the strategy from the government is crystal clear. They haven't come in here with laws to stop Clive Palmer buying an election. In fact, they are doing the opposite. They have turned a blind eye to billionaires who write checks for amounts of money that no-one else in the country could afford, the billionaires who come in and seem to buy elections. They are fine with that. But when charities or organisations who work with people doing it tough dare to speak out and say, 'Maybe we should improve things a little bit in our country,' the government come down on them like a tonne of bricks.

So the government's strategy is very clear: stop some people from speaking out and stop some people from even voting and then, on the other hand, run over and suck up to Clive Palmer, Pauline Hanson and all the far Right and everyone else and say, 'Can you please come and do the same again for us? Can you please write out a huge cheque to ensure the re-election of the Liberal government—please, please, please? We'll do everything we can to support you'—even if it means standing up and saying in Queensland, 'Oh, it's okay; people should be able to go and have a cup of coffee without being double vaxxed,' when, at the same time, that is exactly what has been put out in Victoria and New South Wales and the government doesn't seem to have a problem with it.

So enough pandering to the far Right as a re-election strategy. If you were serious about ensuring that there are the kinds of restrictions on political campaigners that most people in this country would like, you would stop billionaires from buying elections. You would come in here with amendments that say, 'Perhaps we should have a cap on how much corporations and billionaires can donate to political parties.' But, no, you don't do that. The government comes in here with a bill that says, 'Let's shut down some people who are speaking out, because we don't like what they are saying,' and then, at the last minute, come in with 35 amendments which, on the face of them, on a quick read, mean that some of these laws will potentially apply retrospectively and then turn a blind eye to everything else. Oh, by the way, forget about that promise of an independent corruption commission; that's never going to happen at all.

This is a terrible process. We should not be supporting amendments that get lobbed on us at the last minute, particularly when on a quick read it looks like some are going to have retrospective application. This is all about the government trying to silence people it does not like. A government that was proud of what it did wouldn't be scared when people spoke up and spoke out; it would engage in the debate. But, instead, this government says: 'We're going to shut you down. We're going to use the power of the law to let the billionaires keep getting away with buying elections while we shut down charities and other groups.' Well, no; we should stand up to the government and say no. And any amendments that come in, when you don't even have the decency to speak to them and put an argument as to why they are good, should be opposed.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the amendment be agreed to.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the bill, as amended, be agreed to.