Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I move opposition amendment (1) on sheet 7854:

(1) Page 26 (after line 25), at the end of the Bill, add:

Schedule 2—Donation disclosure threshold

Part 1—Main amendment

Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

1 Subsection 4(1)

  Insert:

  related: a political party is related to another political party if:

  (a) one of the parties is part of the other party; or

  (b) both parties are parts of the same political party.

2 Subsection 123(2)

  Repeal the subsection.

3 Subsection 287(4)

  After "an election", insert "or a reference in section 305B".

4 After subsection 287(6)

  Insert:

  (6A) Subsection (6) does not apply in relation to a political party that is a body corporate.

5 Subparagraph 304(5)(b)(ii)

  Omit "$10,000 or less", substitute "less than $1,000".

6 Paragraph 304(5)(c)

  Omit "$10,000 or less", substitute "less than $1,000".

7 Subsection 304(5) (note)

  Repeal the note.

8 Paragraph 304(6)(b)

  Omit "exceeds $10,000", substitute "is $1,000 or more".

9 Paragraph 304(6)(c)

  Omit "exceeds $10,000", substitute "is $1,000 or more".

10 Paragraph 304(6) (note)

  Repeal the note.

11 Subparagraph 305A(1)(b)(ii)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

12 Subsection 305A(1) (note)

  Repeal the note.

13 Subparagraph 305A(1A)(b)(ii)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

14 Subsection 305A(1A) (note)

  Repeal the note.

15 Paragraph 305A(2)(b)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

16 Subsection 305A(2) (note)

  Repeal the note.

17 Section 305B

  Repeal the section, substitutes:

305B Gifts to political parties

Obligation to furnish returns for reporting periods

(1) If, in a financial year, a person makes gifts totalling $1,000 or more to the same registered political party, the person must furnish a return to the Electoral Commission within 8 weeks after the end of the financial year, disclosing all the gifts that the person made to the registered political party during the reporting period.

How section applies to political parties that are related

(2) If:

  (a) 2 or more political parties are related to each other; and

  (b) at least one of those parties is a registered political party;

subsection (1) applies as if:

  (c) those parties together constituted a single registered political party (rather than being separate political parties); and

  (d) a gift made by a person to any of those parties were a gift made by that person to the single registered political party referred to in paragraph (c).

How section applies to gifts made with intention of benefiting a party

(3) If a person makes a gift to any person or body with the intention of benefiting a particular political party, the person is taken for the purpose of this section (including paragraph (2)(d)) to have made that gift directly to that political party.

Content of return

(4) For each gift, the return must set out the following:

  (a) the amount of the gift;

  (b) the date on which it was made;

(c) the name and address of the political party that received the gift.

Disclosure of receipt of gifts in certain circumstances

(5) If:

   (a) a person is required to disclose a gift (the ultimate gift) in a return under subsection (1); and

(b) the person received a gift of $1,000 or more (the enabling gift) which the person used to make all or a substantial part of the ultimate gift;

the person must also disclose the relevant details of the enabling gift in the return under subsection (1).

(6) Relevant details for the purpose of subsection (5), in relation to a gift, are:

  (a) the amount or value of the gift; and

  (b) the date on which the gift was made; and

(c) in the case of a gift made on behalf of the members of an unincorporated association, other than a registered industrial organisation:

     (i) the name of the association; and

     (ii) the names and addresses of the members of the executive committee (however described) of the association; and

(d) in the case of a gift purportedly made out of a trust fund or out of the funds of a foundation:

     (i) the names and addresses of the trustees of the fund or of the funds of the foundation; and

     (ii) the title or other description of the trust fund or the name of the foundation, as the case requires; and

(e) in any other case—the name and address of the person who made the gift.

Return to be in approved form

(7) The return must be in the approved form.

Gifts to which section does not apply

(8) This section does not apply to gifts made by any of the following:

  (a) a registered political party;

  (b) a State branch of a registered political party;

(c) an associated entity;

  (d) a candidate in an election;

(e) a member of a group.

18 Subsection 306(1)

  Omit "exceeds $10,000", substitute "is $1,000 or more".

19 Subsection 306(1) (note)

  Repeal the note.

20 Subsection 306(2)

  Omit "exceeds $10,000", substitute "is $1,000 or more".

21 Subsection 306(2) (note)

  Repeal the note.

22 Subsection 306A(1)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

23 Subsection 306A(1) (note)

  Repeal the note.

24 Subsection 306A(2)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

25 Subsection 306A(2) (note)

  Repeal the note.

26 Paragraph 306B(a)

  Omit "exceeds $10,000", substitute "is $1,000 or more".

27 Section 306B (note 3)

  Repeal the note.

28 Subsection 311A(2)

  Omit "$10,000 or less", substitute "less than $1,000".

29 Subsection 311A(2) (note)

  Repeal the note.

30 Subsection 314AC(1)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

31 Subsection 314AC(1) (note)

  Repeal the note.

32 Subsection 314AC(2)

  Repeal the subsection.

33 Subsection 314AE(1)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

34 Subsection 314AE(1) (note)

  Repeal the note.

35 Paragraphs 314AEB(1)(b) and (c)

  Repeal the paragraphs, substitute:

  (b) the total amount of expenditure of all of the kinds referred to in paragraph (a) incurred by the person during the reporting period was $1,000 or more.

36 Subsection 314AEB(1) (note)

  Repeal the note.

37 After subsection 314AEB(1)

  Insert:

  (1A) An amount of expenditure incurred with the authority of a person is not counted in the total amount referred to in paragraph (1)(b) if, at the time the person gave authority to incur the amount of expenditure, the person was:

  (a) a registered political party; or

  (b) a State branch of a registered political party; or

(c) the Commonwealth (including a Department of the Commonwealth, an Executive Agency or a Statutory Agency (within the meaning of the Public Service Act 1999)); or

  (d) a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate; or

(e) a candidate in an election; or

  (f) a member of a group.

38 Paragraph 314AEC(1)(c)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

39 Subsection 314AEC(1) (note)

  Repeal the note.

40 Subsection 314AEC(2)

  Omit "more than $10,000", substitute "$1,000 or more".

41 Subsection 314AEC(2) (note)

  Repeal the note.

42 Section 321A

  Repeal the section.

Part 2—Application provisions

43 Amendments applying to elections the writs for which are issued on or after the commencement of this Schedule

  The amendments made by the items 5 to 16 of this Schedule apply in relation to elections the writs for which are issued on or after the commencement of this Schedule.

44 Amendments applying to a financial year starting on or after the commencement of this Schedule

  The amendments made by items 17 and 28 to 34 of this Schedule apply in relation to a financial year that starts on or after the commencement of this Schedule.

45 Amendments applying to gifts etc. made on or after the commencement of this Schedule

  The amendments made by items 19 to 27 of this Schedule apply to loans received on or after the commencement of this Schedule.

This amendment will reduce the threshold at which political donations must be disclosed from the current figure of $13,000 to $1,000. The Labor Party believes that political donations should be transparent and that parties should be accountable for the donations they receive. This is part of our commitment to improving transparency and accountability in the system of political donations generally. This is good for democracy.

Prior to 2006, the donation disclosure threshold was $1,000. In a cynical move, John Howard dramatically increased the threshold to $10,000 and then pegged it to inflation, so the figure is now $13,000. Labor's policy is to return the threshold to $1,000, because we believe transparency in political donations is good for democracy. Our concern with this issue, and why we raise it in this context, is that we find it difficult to imagine why, when the government were keen to deal on electoral reform, they were not pegged on donations.

We do not understand why the Greens did not take the opportunity to respond on this important policy issue when they had that opportunity with the government. They certainly complained when we were not able to progress it further due to the then opposition's intransigence. They had that opportunity to challenge it on this occasion but seem to have played lame.