A Coalition push to redefine associated entities will make it harder to win bipartisan support for one of the government’s foreign interference bills, Labor’s Andrew Giles has warned.

Giles, the deputy chair of the joint standing committee on electoral matters, told Guardian Australia the new measure targeted at GetUp has nothing to do with foreign interference and could harm grassroots democracy.

In December the government introduced bills to ban foreign political donations and to require registration of lobbyists and executives working for foreign interests if they seek to influence politics in Australia.

The electoral funding and disclosure reform bill also seeks to change the definition of associated entities, which are groups that “operates wholly, or to a significant extent, for the benefit of one or more registered political parties”.

The bill would add that a group may be an associated entity if it operates “to the detriment of one or more registered political parties in a way that benefits one or more other registered political parties”.

In an opinion piece about the need to restore faith in Australian democratic institutions, Giles accused the government of a “single-minded determination to get GetUp”.

Earlier in 2017 the Australian Electoral Commission warned GetUp that it may have to register as an associated entity of Labor and the Greens because its 2016 election activities benefited those parties. GetUp refused, stressing it is independent of them.

Giles said the provision would “fundamentally change how some groups are regulated under electoral law”.

Associated entities face more stringent reporting requirements, including disclosure of donations, and filing a return would formally align GetUp with the parties despite no structural links such as control or membership status.

Giles told Guardian Australia the “GetUp clause” was “completely at odds with the ostensible purpose” of the bill to reduce foreign interference or was “at best tangential to that question”.

GetUp insists it receives almost no foreign funding, with only 0.5% of donations over its lifetime coming from overseas and 97% of its donations being sums under $100.

Giles said the bill sought to “tidy up foreign influence” which was “an easy point” to win Labor support but raised a second question about whether the government “accepts there is a role for a vibrant, activist civil society”.

“If they’re serious about tidying up foreign influence ... it’s hard to see how achieving that outcome quickly can be assisted by introducing irrelevant and complicated elements, which are themselves very controversial.”



Special minister of state, Mathias Cormann, rejected the view the change was at odds with the legislation’s purpose, which he said was “to ensure all organisations involved in relevant political expenditure and activity are subject to the same transparency, disclosure and reporting requirements”.

He said the bill “clarified an ambiguity” about the meaning of operating for the benefit of a political party but said this did not amount to an extension of scope.

“GetUp is plainly a political campaigning organisation engaged in political activity and incurring political expenditure,” Cormann said, adding it was “entirely appropriate” it be subject to the same disclosure requirements as other political actors.

GetUp has already used the proposed foreign donation ban and associated entity changes to fundraise from its members, suggesting donations could be spent on an ad campaign, legal advice and potential legal challenges.

Legal experts have warned the foreign donation ban in particular could be challenged on the basis it infringes the implied freedom of political communication.

In December the GetUp national director, Paul Oosting, warned the new “GetUp clause” is “an unprecedented case of government overreach”.



“[It] is aimed squarely at shutting down Australians from working together, independent of political parties, to make our country a better place to live,” he said.

Oosting said GetUp is “independent to our core, independence is in our DNA”.

The Liberal senator Eric Abetz has labelled GetUp a “leftwing front” because it targeted Coalition MPs including Peter Dutton, George Christensen and Andrew Nikolic at the 2016 election.