Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. After a period in which we had the initial head of the charities commission, Susan Pascoe, doing her best to keep the organisation's morale up in the face of constant coalition attacks, and enduring up to 25 per cent staff turnover—frankly, it's hard to keep your staff when the government is committed to abolishing your organisation—we saw the appointment of well-known charities critic Gary Johns to head the commission.

The coalition was so proud of this that they made that announcement at the very same time in which this House was passing its historic vote on same-sex marriage! That's not what you do when you're proud of an announcement. Appointing Gary Johns to head the charities commission is like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank, or like putting Ned Kelly in charge of bank security or like putting Bronwyn Bishop in charge of transport for politicians! Let's go through some of the things that Gary Johns has said in the past, because the minister, when appointing him, said he hadn't read his work.

Gary Johns has said that the Abbott government:

… should deny charity status to the enemies of progress, …

Who knows who the enemies of progress are?

He believes in scrapping the Charities Act 2013, which effectively throws charities law back to the 1600s. I love the 1600s! Many great things came out of the 1600s, not least of them Shakespeare. But I don't know that our charities want their laws to go back to the 1600s. Gary Johns has said, 'There is a great deal of impure altruism in the charities business.' He has attacked Recognise, calling it the 'officially sanctioned propaganda arm of the Australian government'. He has attacked beyondblue for their work with LGBT+ people. He made the comment, 'a lot of poor women in this country, a large proportion of whom are Aboriginal, are used as cash cows, right'. I'm not sure how Indigenous charities feel about the fact that a man who made that comment now heads the charities commission. I don't know how welfare charities would feel about Gary Johns' statement:

If a person's sole source of income is the taxpayer, the person, as a condition of benefit, must have contraception. No contraception, no benefit.

I'm not sure how multicultural charities feel about the fact that Gary Johns, the head of the charities commission, said:

Australia is sucking in too many of the wrong type of immigrant. … There is no doubt many Australians have considerable misgivings about Muslim immigration and the ability of many to fit in.

That's Gary Johns, the head of the charities commission.

And I'm not sure how environmental charities working to boost renewable energy and get more of those solar panels on the roof that so many Australians enjoy would feel about the fact that the head of the charities commission has said, 'We know for a fact that renewable energy is the cause of the blackouts.'

Labor has engaged with charities across the country in working to boost charitable advocacy. As Welcome to Australia founder, Brad Chilcott, has said that the government's approach to charities is akin to saying, 'You can plant a tree but you can't protect the forest.' They want to put a velvet rope across the entrance to the public square. Labor is working with charities. We support the Justice Connect campaign to fix fundraising. We have held 16 Reconnected forums across Australia, with more than 1,500 charity heads discussing how to rebuild civic life in Australia—how to get around that 'disconnected' problem that Australia faces. We want to work with charities, not against them.

So, in working to redraft this bill, we endorsed the Hands Off Our Charities Red Line Principles. These principles guided the final amendments that were made to the bill. The commitment we made to support them underpinned our close and consultative work with Australian charities. We set out to fix the government's mess, and we have done just that. I want to pay particular tribute to Nick Terrell, in my office, and to Ben Rillo, in Senator Farrell's office, for their very impressive work on the details of this and engaging with the charity sector.

We have worked with charities but also with the goal of banning foreign donations. There were some on the Left of politics who said we just had to tear up the bill and start again. If we had listened to the Greens, we wouldn't be getting foreign money out of politics today. If the Greens had had their way, this bill would be dead. I don't think any reasonable person imagines that the coalition would have come to the table to get bipartisan support for a ban on foreign political donations. So Labor did what it always does: it found that sensible centrist path between the rip-it-all-up group on the Left and those who wanted to hurt charities on the Right. And, as a range of third parties have noted, we managed to get that balance right.

The CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Kelly O'Shanassy, has said:

When first introduced this bill was a draconian proposal that redefined non-partisan, independent, issues-based advocacy as political campaigning and would have subjected Australian charities to many of the restrictions in the Electoral Act that were designed and intended for political parties.

The proposal that has entered the Senate is:

… a significant improvement … addressing many of the concerns raised by charities and non-profits.

…   …   …

The change to the definition of 'electoral matter' in particular is a substantial improvement … and will free charities from a significant red tape burden.

ACF recognised the federal Labor Party, the opposition leader, and, in particular, shadow charities minister Andrew Leigh and shadow Special Minister of State Don Farrell for their ongoing consultation with the charities sector.

Professor Tony Cunningham, president of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes, says:

We're pleased to see that our concerns were heard, and this Bill now strikes a much better balance between protecting the integrity of our electoral processes while allowing for charities to speak out on important matters.

They have welcomed their ability to speak out on public policy issues, while working with international partners and receiving vital international research grants. They acknowledge the work of the Hands Off Our Charities alliance, as well as Senator Farrell, Senator Cormann, Senator Reynolds and myself.

Hugh de Kretser, the executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre, says:

The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the electoral funding bill that is to come before the Senate today, which is vastly different from the initial proposal that would have stifled vital public advocacy by charities.

…   …   …

In December 2017, the Turnbull Government introduced a badly flawed bill, purportedly to address foreign influence in elections that would have stifled public advocacy by charities and other community groups. A strong campaign from the united charity sector highlighted the extensive flaws in the proposal.

…   …   …

Charities and community groups do vital work building a better, healthier society. Our democracy is stronger when they are free to speak up.

David Crosbie, the CEO of the Community Council for Australia and a tireless campaigner for the rights of charities and not-for-profits, said:

The Community Council for Australia (CCA) was very concerned about how the original Electoral Reform Bill (2017) would impact thousands of charities who would have faced quite complicated new administrative requirements and restrictions if they chose to make any public statements advocating for their cause or their community.

…   …   …

Since CCA first raised our concerns about the Bill, the Shadow Minister for Charities Andrew Leigh has been an active advocate for a more sensible approach that would protect issues-based advocacy by charities.

We are pleased that a more reasoned Bill is now being introduced into the Parliament …

...      …   …

The revised Bill is a good demonstration of how public policy can be improved when the concerns of charities are taken seriously. Our democracy is stronger when charities are able to actively represent their causes and ensure the least powerful in our communities are represented.

Misha Coleman, the executive director of Global Health Alliance Melbourne, says:

Global Health Alliance Melbourne welcomes the bipartisan and crossbench support for this version of the Bill, which is a drastically improved version from the original draft …

...      …   …

… investments from foreign donors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to vital health and medical research—in areas from paediatrics to malaria—will now not be jeopardised.

Barry Traill, the Australian director of Pew Charitable Trusts, said:

It is vital for democracy and society that charities can speak up and advocate on issues of public importance. We welcome the changes made to this Bill that will allow this to continue. We congratulate the MPs from all parties that listened to concerns from charities and worked hard to make this legislation work for Australia and for Australians.

We need to get foreign money out of politics and we have done just that. The influence of foreign donations has been in the news in Australia. It was in the news last month in New Zealand with the Jami-Lee Ross scandal involving foreign political donations.

It is vital we get foreign money out of politics, and I return to where I began. The Liberals and Nationals have said they are supporting this bill. They must, therefore, instruct their party machines never to accept another dollar of foreign political donations, starting right now.

See this speech in context