Page 2428 - Week 06 - Thursday, 10 May 2012
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do not let political publications slip through the definition and avoid being considered as third parties.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 14, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 15.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (8.16), by leave: I move amendment No 6 on the white paper and amendment No 1 on the green paper circulated in my name together [see schedule 4 at page 2469 and schedule 10 at page 2481].
Turning first to amendment No 6 on the white paper, this amendment refines the new definition of “gift” in the electoral bill to clarify the current definition in clause 15. The current definition may leave doubt as to whether an amount of more than $250 paid at a single fundraising event could be considered a gift if the donor considered that he or she had received consideration for the gift. For example, a person could claim that a payment made to attend a fundraising seminar was not a gift as the person had received an experience that could be taken to be value for money.
Amendment 6 addresses this doubt by separating the definition of “gift” into two parts. Section 198AA(1) includes the concept currently contained in the Electoral Act 1992, which is the traditional notion that a gift is a disposition of property made by one person to another without consideration in money or money’s worth or with inadequate consideration, and that a gift includes the provision of a service for no consideration or inadequate consideration.
Section 198AA(1A) provides that a payment of a membership fee to a party or a payment that is made at a single fundraising event, of more than $250, is taken to be a gift, even if it is argued by the donor that they have received consideration for the payment.
Finally, section 198AA(1B) provides that a number of things are not considered to be a gift, including the first $250 of a fundraising contribution at any single fundraising event. The intent of these changes is to ensure that donors cannot avoid the obligations pertaining to gifts by claiming that payments to parties and other political entities are not gifts but instead are membership fees or payments for services received at fundraising events. This amendment makes it clear that payments of this kind over $250 are to be treated as gifts. In the government’s view, $250 is a reasonable limit for this type of payment.
My amendment No 1 on the green paper makes provision for certain elements in relation to the operation of associated entities to expire on 1 January 2014. This makes provision for associated entities to manage the transition of the new electoral arrangements in a timely and orderly fashion.
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