Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) to (3) on sheet 1037 together.

(1) Clause 2, page 1 (line 7) to page 2 (line 6), omit the clause, substitute:

2 Commencement

(1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

  Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.

(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.

(2) Schedule 1, heading to Part 1, page 3 (lines 3 and 4), omit the heading, substitute:

Part 1—Amendments relating to gifts

(3) Schedule 1, heading to Part 2, page 13 (line 1), omit the heading, substitute:

Part 2—Amendments relating to voting and scrutiny processes

This amendment seeks to delay the commencement of the bill until 1 December 2020. Currently the bill has different commencement dates for different provisions. The amendment will allow for a simplified starting date for the entire bill. Delaying the start date until 1 December will allow the AEC and the parties to familiarise themselves with the new regime and ensure that they have their compliance systems in place. In addition, there are state jurisdictions that are currently undergoing state or local government elections. It's always important to ensure that electoral changes do not confuse voters or entities. As such, a starting date later in the year lessens the risk of confusion.