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

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

The speech read as follows—

The Australian Labor Party has long supported reforms to protect and strengthen our electoral laws and democratic institutions.

This Bill is following through on our longstanding commitments to improve transparency and rebuild the public's trust in our democracy.

Labor took to the last election a suite of policies aimed at restoring faith in our political systems, including:

Real-time disclosure will immediately improve transparency and strengthen the integrity of our democracy. It is only right that electors can clearly see who is donating to political parties, campaigners and candidates. Voters have the right to know what is happening in their democracy - we must shine a light on those who are seeking to influence political outcomes.

At present, candidates and senate groups must disclose donations within 15 weeks of an election. Political parties, associated entities and political campaigners are only required to lodge a return with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) within 20 weeks of the end of the financial year - by 17 November -for donations made in the previous financial year. These annual returns are not then published by the AEC until the first working day in February. That means that it can be up to 19 months before electors are able to know who has made a political donation.

This Bill will require political parties and their associated entities, candidates, and senate groups to disclose donations or gifts received, valued at or above the disclosure threshold, within seven days of receipt. The disclosure return must include the name and address of the person or entity who made the donation; the total amount received and the amount of each individual gift given during the disclosure period; and the date on which the donation was received. This information will be published by the Electoral Commissioner as soon as reasonably practicable.

Political campaigners will be required to make a disclosure within seven days of a gift being used or expended for the purposes of electoral expenditure. This will ease the administrative burden for entities which receive donations for purposes other than political activism or lobbying. It will mean that they will not need to make a decision immediately about what the donation will be spent on. A similar provision exists in Queensland.

2 The Bill does not seek to require third parties to disclose political donations in real time. Third parties are those individuals or organisations who do not spend enough on electoral expenditure in a financial year to qualify as a political campaigner. They are not entities which have a high level of involvement in political processes; it is not their main business or even a substantial part of their business. Requiring third parties to report in real time would be an unreasonable burden on those organisations. Third parties will continue to be required to lodge a return with the Electoral Commission detailing their total electoral expenditure and donations greater than the disclosure threshold which were used to incur electoral expenditure. These returns are required within 20 weeks of the end of the financial year.

We believe a disclosure period of seven days strikes the right balance between transparency and administrative burden. At present, the Commonwealth has some of the worst donation disclosure requirements in Australia. In Queensland, the first state to implement a system of real time disclosure, donations are required to be disclosed within 7 days. Victoria requires donations to be disclosed within 21 days of receipt and New South Wales requires disclosure within 21 days during an election campaign. At a federal level, we can and should do better.

The growth of technology and communication has meant that we now have the ability to report in real time, and, although it's not an easy thing to implement, it is something that can and should be done to give voters enough information as possible prior to an election.

We recognise that this places an additional burden on recipients, but it is a burden that we must bear for the benefit of our democracy. The expensive nature of compliance means a well-funded democratic system is vital if we are to improve transparency.

The Bill will close the loophole whereby multiple donations just below the disclosure threshold go undisclosed. Once a recipient receives one or more donations from the same donor which, in total, are at or above the disclosure threshold, a return will need to be provided to the Electoral Commission. Each subsequent donation made during the financial year from the same donor will need to be disclosed by the recipient.

The real time disclosure regime will be in addition to the requirement for political parties, associated entities and political campaigners to provide an annual return which details total income, expenses and debts. Candidates and senate groups will still be required to provide a return to the Electoral Commissioner 15 weeks after polling day. It is important that this Bill does not displace the requirement for election and annual returns. For political parties, associated entities and campaigners, these returns detail total income and expenditure. For candidates and senate groups, the election return must include details of gifts received and electoral expenditure. Although there will be some doubling up of information provided in the returns required by this Bill, it is of benefit to both recipients of donations and voters to have the current system co-exist with real time disclosure so that all information related to political donations is collated in one return.

The implementation of this reform highlights the need for a properly funded Australian Electoral Commission. The AEC doesn't just run election day; it protects the integrity of our democracy. A well-funded electoral commission is the best defence that we have against the erosion of our democracy.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.