Tell the government to take their Hands off our Charities

Will you make a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters on the shocking proposed Foreign Donations Bill? The submission period has been extended to 9 March, so there's still time!

You can see the submissions received so far on the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters website.

It is a direct attack on civil society in Australia and on our democracy. The goal of this legislation, along with a range of other attacks on charities, is to shut out the voices of community advocates and dissent.

Dear Senator Reynolds,

Senator Linda Reynolds, Chair
Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters
PO Box 6021
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

RE: Inquiry into the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017.

I am making a submission to this Inquiry because I believe this Bill would have an extremely detrimental impact on our nation’s charities and the important work they do -- from aid and health to environmental protection and education. I believe this Bill represents a key component of an attempt to redefine the role of civil society advocacy in Australia, a threat to democracy in Australia and as such, should be withdrawn.

First and foremost I wish to state the view that charities have made this nation much greater than it would have been without their work, their vision and their advocacy.

I see the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017 (the “Bill”) as a direct attack on civil society in Australia, on our democracy. The goal of this legislation, along with a range of other attacks on charities, is to shut the voices of community advocates.

I cannot support the Bill in its current form and believe it should be immediately withdrawn, because of the following reasons.

The Bill is aimed at reducing foreign influence on the Australian political process, but there is no evidence to suggest that foreign money is wielding such influence via charities.

This Bill is a poorly constructed and would have a devastating chilling effect on the ability of charities to do their work on the broad spectrum of important issues they work on.

This Bill would place a huge red tape burden on all charities, with new and onerous reporting requirements on those that receive foreign donations and also undertake public advocacy.

Australians have a strong trust in charities and have not expressed concern about foreign donations to charities but have expressed concern about foreign donations to political parties.

Charities are fundamentally different from political parties, with different aims and purposes. They are administered under different legislative regimes and regulated under different agencies.

Strong existing regulation through the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission (ACNC) already exists that prevents charities from promoting political parties or candidates but does allow them to be active on policies related to the issues they work on.

This Bill attempts to blur the lines between charities and political parties and, if passed, would force charities and donations to charities to be wrongly considered to be the same as to a political party.

The Bill’s broad and vague definitions of ‘political purpose’ and ‘political expenditure’  means charities would not be able to carry out advocacy around an issue ‘likely to be before electors in an election’ whether or not an election is called. As any issue can be an election issue, and an election can happen any time, nearly all charities would fall foul of those definitions and would mean their advocating for the issues they work on and could be considered political at all times.

In addition, this would trigger reporting requirements for donations across the board to be treated as political with reporting requirements that, quite frankly, would be impossible to administer.

The penalties to charities and their financial controllers failing to accurately report to these new heavy-handed standards are draconian and out of proportion in the extreme.

The Bill would require charities deemed political to classify staff as “political campaigners” and require them to disclose their party membership status threatening their privacy and freedom of association.

I believe the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017 is one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation proposed in federal Parliament. It is overtly designed to silence civil society. The government has used the legitimate concerns of Australians about foreign funding of our political parties and used that concern to draft legislation to go after charities advocating for public policy on their issues and, when necessary, voicing dissent against inaction. The Bill is a threat to our democracy and should be withdrawn.

Thank you,

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Tell the government to take their Hands off our Charities

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