Andrew Murray (WA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I move Democrats amendment (8) on sheet 4879 revised:

(8)    Schedule 1, page 22 (after line 21), after item 83, insert:

83A  At the end of section 314AB

Add:

        (3)    A return which is illegible shall be deemed not to be furnished in accordance with subsection (1).

This is an item which asks that the returns, which all political parties and others have to put in, should be legible. I do not know if the Temporary Chair or the rest of the chamber is aware, but the people who analyse or assess returns have to assess the return that has been provided. The returns are often in handwriting and quite a number of them are illegible. On my website I have an analysis of all the donations in WA for instance, and even if you get scanned or photocopied copies they are impossible to read. It is a simple technical amendment which would assist all who use those returns. It is a common requirement in other law, for instance in Corporations Law and other law of that sort, that returns have to be able to be read. That is why the amendment is there.