Page 2155 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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donations may even be inadvertent. As such, I do not think a criminal penalty is appropriate.
My amendment also provides examples of reasonable steps that must be taken by a political entity to ensure that the person giving the gift is not a property developer. These include giving potential donors written notice that donations from property developers or their close associates are prohibited and asking the person who gives the gifts whether or not they are in fact a property developer.
MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts, Creative Industries and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (6.56): I am just flagging that the government will be supporting amendments Nos 32, 33 and 34.
Amendment agreed to.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (6.56), by leave: I move amendments Nos 33 and 34 circulated in my name together [see schedule 5 at page 2173]. In the interests of time, I want to say that this is just more about getting clear the $250 limit.
Amendments agreed to.
MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (6.57): I seek leave to move amendments to this bill that have not been considered by the scrutiny committee.
Leave granted.
MR COE: I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name [see schedule 7 at page 2174]. This amends the bill to allow for written declarations. We also incorporate additional examples proposed by the government, with minor amendments.
The examples provided in the bill previously were statutory declarations, which are very impractical for most donations received. According to the letter of the law, political parties could be expected to obtain a statutory declaration for any donation amount. For example, somebody buying a $2 raffle ticket at a dinner may require a statutory declaration. The Canberra Liberals are proposing written declarations which could still be relied upon as evidence in court but can be practically and effectively implemented. Parties already have processes in place to confirm that they are not receiving foreign donations—for example, a check box on their website that must be ticked before any donation can be made.
We believe there should be consistency across these requirements and we have the responsibility to ensure that there are no overly onerous administrative issues for either the donor or the receiver. It is important that what we put in place is actually practical and can be achieved. Our amendments provide a level of flexibility and are fit for purpose in terms of reasonableness. I hope all others agree.
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