MPs will examine options for regulating all groups undertaking campaign activities – not just political parties

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Turnbull government has launched a sweeping inquiry into political donations and raised the prospect of a new disclosure regime that would apply to all entities undertaking campaign activities.



As revealed by Guardian Australia on Tuesday, the government has sent a reference to the joint standing committee on electoral matters, triggering a fresh look at Australia’s donations and disclosure system after negotiations with key Senate crossbenchers and the Labor party.

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The new reference requires the committee to assess the federal election and advise whether provisions requiring authorisation of electoral material to all forms of communication to voters were followed.

The committee has also been asked to assess the potential application of truth in advertising provisions to communication to voters – including third-party carriage services – a reform being sought by Nick Xenophon, who was unhappy with some of the advertising directed at his party during the campaign.

Additionally, the inquiry will examine the options available to parliament to ensure consistent application of disclosure rules to, and the regulation of, all entities undertaking campaign activities – not just political parties.

In the wake of the controversy that prompted the Labor senator Sam Dastyari to step down from the Labor frontbench, the committee has been asked to assess the extent of donations and contributions “from foreign sources, persons, entities and foreign-owned subsidiaries to political parties, associated entities and other third parties and entities undertaking campaign activities” – and present options to regulate these contributions.

The reference on donations more broadly is wide ranging. The committee will be required to look at the current level of donations, contributions and campaign expenditure, examine the disclosure regime, consider whether the disclosure rules are timely enough, and canvas “alternative approaches available to parliament”.

Tax deductibility is also on the table. The inquiry will examine “the extent to which fundraising and expenditure by third parties is conducted in concert with registered political parties and the applicability and utilisation of tax deductibility by entities involved in campaign activities”.

The reference also includes an examination of whether Australia can move to a system of electronic voting.

The special minister of state, Scott Ryan, said many of these issues, “including the possibility of future electronic voting and changes to federal political donations laws, are highly complex”.

“The most appropriate way of investigating all these issues is through JSCEM,” he said.

The terms of reference clearly allow the joint standing committee to examine Labor’s Medicare campaign during the poll, including the text message communications that enraged the Coalition.

The Tasmanian senator Eric Abetz welcomed the fact that the inquiry would look at the political activities of activist groups, with a view to applying regulatory curbs.

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The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and several senior ministers have flagged that any review of the system will have to look at pressure groups outside major party politics. The Coalition has been spooked by the substantial field operations mounted by the progressive parties during the campaign.

“The announcement from minister Ryan is welcome and I am very pleased that he has listened to the widespread community concern about organisations like GetUp who … seek to campaign for the left of politics while claiming independence,” Abetz said.

“GetUp’s grubby tactics in the 2016 election are rightly deserving of examination and I have confidence that the joint standing committee will consider these matters in detail.”

The inquiry will include participation by crossbenchers and micro-parties, after the NXT and One Nation made it clear they wanted to be part of it.