GetUp nation director Paul Oosting said the change would starve the group of more than half its funding. Credit:Peter Braig GetUp! says the change will require organisations to monitor cumulative small donations in real time, and once the annual $250 ceiling is met, refuse further donations until a statutory declaration is obtained. Failure to comply could result in 10 years' imprisonment or a fine of $210,000. In its submission, GetUp! says far from reducing the potential for foreign influence in politics "the bill will attack civil society advocacy and threaten the rights of everyday people to participate in civic life". "Statutory declarations are typically used for court proceedings and other legal processes," the submission reads. "For organisations and minor parties that rely on small donations, particularly online donations, expecting them to obtain a statutory declaration from hundreds or even thousands of regular small donors is absurd.

"This will have a major negative impact on the revenue of grassroots-funded civil society groups caught by the provision, as well as significantly impacting smaller political parties." Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said only organisations incurring more than $100,000 in political expenditure in any of the past four years - or $50,000 in political expenditure where that expenditure represents 50 per cent or more of their annual budget - will be captured by the "political campaigner" category. GetUp! spent $10 million in the year leading up to the 2016 election, making it a "very significant political actor", he said. "None of the requirements would apply merely to GetUp, but neither should GetUp be able to avoid the disclosure, transparency and reporting requirements or the ban on foreign political donations which applies to all other relevant political actors, including political parties," Senator Cormann said. This will have a major negative impact on the revenue of grassroots-funded civil society groups caught by the provision, as well as significantly impacting smaller political parties. GetUp

"Otherwise a ban on foreign political donations would be completely ineffective as it could easily be circumvented by channelling otherwise prohibited foreign political donations through political campaign organisations like GetUp." But GetUp! national director Paul Oosting said the clause exposed the government's "true intention to shut down anyone it doesn't agree with". It will starve GetUp! of "more than half" its funding, he said. "This bill serves the interests of the Turnbull government, and no one else. It doesn't stop the likes of Gina Rinehart or the Adani Corporation from cutting huge cheques to their favourite politicians, but it forces everyday people to jump through absurd hoops just to have their say in our democracy," he said. "Australia's political system is already broken. But instead of fixing it, this bill will absolutely decimate it. Federal politicians need to reject this legislation if they're to retain the minimal trust everyday people have in them and our democracy." GetUp! has also been fighting a push – supported by many within the Coalition – to have GetUp! declared an "associated entity" of Labor and the Greens. That would force it to lodge financial disclosure returns to the Australian Electoral Commission or face possible criminal sanctions.