Page 2425 - Week 06 - Thursday, 10 May 2012

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The Assembly voted—

Question so resolved in the negative.

Amendment negatived.

MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (8.06): I move amendment No 5 circulated in my name on the white paper [see schedule 5 at page 2473].

This amendment amends section 198 of the principal act—the definition of “electoral expenditure” and the definition of “financial representative”. In the Electoral Act there are people who have to take responsibility for certain decisions. One of the things here is that for party groupings and the like there are reporting agents for the party who take responsibility for this. The current legislation as drafted by the minister and his officials is that for a third-party campaigner a financial representative—if the third-party candidate is an individual—is that person themselves or in any other case the managing director, however described, of a third-party campaign. I propose to simplify that to say:

in any other case—the person responsible (however described) for the management of the third-party campaigner.

Many third-party campaigners might be quite small organisations. As I said to the Electoral Commissioner, Evatt residents for Vicki Dunne may be a very strong group indeed, but they may be an incorporated organisation who just come together to support my election campaign. They might spend a couple of thousand dollars on telling Evatt residents why they should continue to support Vicki Dunne in the next Legislative Assembly. These people would not have a managing director, however described, because they would not have that corporate structure.

So for third-party campaigns I think it is appropriate—and I understand that there is agreement generally for this—that the financial representative should be more simply described as the person responsible for the management of the third-party campaign. It will be perfectly obvious to the Electoral Commissioner and anyone else. It will probably be the person whose name is attached to the authorisation in small organisations in particular. If it is a large organisation, it will also be obvious because it will have a corporate structure.

It would be difficult and unreasonable for grassroots organisations that may spring up. Belconnen residents who want lights at the dog park are another group of people that might spring up. They do not have a managing director. They might put a couple of

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