Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor members and senators have been proud to stand with a broad coalition of charities and not-for-profits to defend their right to advocate and speak out on issues affecting our society. Labor has made its support for the important work of Hands off our Charities Alliance abundantly clear. The advocacy voice of charities and not-for-profits is not only the voice of the various organisations it is the voice of every Australian who donates, volunteers or is a member of a charity.

When the voice of charities and not-for-profits is threatened, so is our democracy. Labor has led the way on reforming political donations and removing foreign influence from the political process, and the opposition is committed to banning foreign donations. However, like the Hands off our Charities Alliance, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters and the thousands of Australians who have given their voice to this campaign, the opposition believes we can clean up donations without silencing our community sector.