Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I make the observation, as I have done, that Senator Lambie was given the opportunity of a full briefing on the bill. She chose not to take advantage of that. If she wishes to have an explanation of the proposed amendments, then I'm happy to go through those. Amendment (1) proposed originally a disclosure threshold of $1,000, and we have increased that to $5,000. This is currently $16,900 and was again set to increase for the new financial year. No. 2, the amended gift cap from an individual or entity was originally $20,000 in the bill. That has been increased to $50,000. No. 3 is a provision to allow genuine peak representation bodies to manage their affiliation under the cap of four times the proposed gift. No. 4 is a technical amendment to limit the risks associated with constitutional changes to the reform package. No. 5 is a clarification that administrative expenditure is not electoral expenditure. Amendment (6) is technical amendments to ensure that state and territory electoral laws do not apply to the receipt and the use of funds for federal purposes or federal administrative purposes. No. 7 is technical amendments to ensure candidates, MPs and senators are able to contribute to their own political party or individual campaign account up to the annual gift cap. No. 8 is technical amendments to ensure political parties are able to loan funds between their branches without being subject to the gift cap. No. 9 is technical amendments to clarify that volunteers are to be treated as staff for the purposes of travel and accommodation related expenses and exemptions.

While I'm on my feet, Chair, Senator Hume did ask a question earlier. The answer to that is that a peak body can only be representative of other organisations. The only time a natural person can be a member of such a body is when they are a life member or elected official, not a replacement for affiliates or genuine organisations. This bill, including its amendments, is about promoting participation while limiting big money, as it restricts big donors.