Footnotes

Report

[1]        Journals of the Senate, No. 150 — 19 April 2016, p. 4129.

[2]        NSW Panel of Experts (Dr Kerry Schott (Chair), Mr Andrew Tink AM, the Hon John Watkins), Working Paper 1 – Overview of Australian Election Funding and Donations Disclosure Laws, August 2014, p. 1. Available at: www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/164625/Working_Paper_1_-_Overview_on_International_Election_Funding_and_Donations_Disclosure_Laws_including_Annexure_A.pdf.

[3]        Australian Electoral Commission website, Financial disclosure, available at: www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/financial_disclosure/.

[4]        Australian Electoral Commission website, Financial disclosure, available at: www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/financial_disclosure/.

[5]        Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 2.

[6]        Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 2 quoting from the Hon Kim Beazley MP, Special Minister of State, second reading speech for the Commonwealth Electoral Legislation Amendment Bill1983, House of Representatives Hansard, 2 November 1983, p. 2215.

[7]        Australian Electoral Commission website, Associated entities, available at: www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/financial_disclosure/guides/associated-entities/index.htm.

[8]        Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 3.

[9]        Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 3.

[10]      Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Report on the funding of political parties and election campaigns, November 2011, p. xxxii (Recommendation 25).

[11]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 3. See also Australian Electoral Commission, Submission 19 to the Joint Standing Committee of Electoral Matters' inquiry into the funding of political parties and election campaigns, pp 6-8; and Australian Electoral Commission, Supplementary Submission 19.2 to the Joint Standing Committee of Electoral Matters' inquiry into the funding of political parties and election campaigns, pp 7-8.

[12]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 3.

[13]      Australian Electoral Commission website, Associated entities, available at: www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/financial_disclosure/guides/associated-entities/index.htm. Section 314AEA of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Act) deals with annual returns by associated entities. Subsection 314AEA(1) of the Act provides that annual returns by associated entities must be provided within 16 weeks of the end of the financial year.

[14]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 4.

[15]      Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, p. 4.

[16]      Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, p. 6.

[17]      Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, pp 9-10.

[18]      Estimates Hansard, 9 February 2016, p. 50.

[19]      Australian Electoral Commission website, Disclosure threshold, available at: www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/public_funding/threshold.htm. This page also sets out the disclosure threshold for each financial year from 2005.

[20]      Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, p. 6.

[21]      Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Report on the funding of political parties and election campaigns, November 2011, p. xxvii (Recommendation 1).

[22]      Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Report on the funding of political parties and election campaigns, November 2011, p. 49.

[23]      Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, p. 13. See also section 314AC of the Act.

[24]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 5.

[25]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 5.

[26]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 5.

[27]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 5.

[28]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 6.

[29]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 6.

[30]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 6.

[31]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 7.

[32]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 13.

[33]      Committee Hansard, 29 April 2016, p. 13.

[34]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 6.

[35]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp 13-14.

[36]      Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, p. 13.

[37]      Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, pp 23-24.

[38]      Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, pp 24-25. Section 316(2A) provides the authority for the Australian Electoral Commission to conduct compliance investigations.

[39]      See Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, Appendix 3, p. 31.

[40]      See Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, p. 25. The financial controller of an associated entity is responsible for lodging returns. The financial controller is defined by section 287 of the Act as: the company secretary if the entity is a company; or the trustee if the entity is a trust; or in other cases, the person responsible for maintaining the financial records.

[41]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 2.

[42]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 4.

[43]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 2.

[44]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp 2-3.

[45]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp 3-4.

[46]      Submission 4, p. 2.

[47]      Submission 1, pp 1-2. Emphasis in original.

[48]      Submission 1, p. 2.

[49]      Submission 1, p. 2.

[50]      Submission 1, p. 2. Under the Electoral Act, a candidate or Senate group is eligible for election funding if they obtain at least four per cent of the first preference vote in the Division or the State or Territory they contested. The amount to be paid is calculated by multiplying the number of votes obtained by the current election funding rate. This rate is indexed every six months to increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). For the period 1 January to 30 June 2016 the rate is 262.259 cents per first preference vote. The Act requires that at least 95 percent of election funding entitlements, calculated on the basis of votes counted as at the 20th day after polling day, be paid as soon as possible. The balance of entitlements must be paid when the counting of votes is finalised, see Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Inquiry into political donations, referred 15 October 2015, AEC correspondence 2, p. 7.

[51]      Submission 1, p. 3.

[52]      Submission 1, p. 3.

[53]      Submission 1, p. 3.

[54]      Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Report on the funding of political parties and election campaigns, November 2011, p. xxv. See also Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Report on the funding of political parties and election campaigns, November 2011, p. xxxii (Recommendations 26 and 27).

[55]      As noted above, Appendix 3 of this report sets out a comparative table of the disclosure and funding schemes for the Commonwealth and NSW. 'Group' means, in relation to State elections, a group of candidates, or part of a group of candidates, for a periodic Legislative Council of NSW election; 'third-party campaigners' means 'an entity or other person (not being a registered party, elected member, group or candidate) who incurs electoral communication expenditure during an expenditure period that exceeds $2,000', see Section 4 of the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981 (NSW).

[56]      See NSW Panel of Experts (Dr Kerry Schott (Chair), Mr Andrew Tink AM, the Hon John Watkins), Working Paper 1 – Overview of Australian Election Funding and Donations Disclosure Laws, August 2014, Annexure A: Summary of Commonwealth State and Territory Election funding and donations disclosure rules; NSW Electoral Commission website, Caps on Political Donations, available at: www.elections.nsw.gov.au/fd/political_donations/caps_on_political_donations; NSW Electoral Commission website, Unlawful Political Donations, available at: http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/fd/political_donations/unlawful_political_donations.

[57]      NSW Electoral Commission website, Public Funding, available at: www.elections.nsw.gov.au/fd/public_funding

[58]      NSW Electoral Commission, Election Campaigns Fund Fact Sheet – 2015 NSW State Election, p. 5, available at: www.elections.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/198882/EF_00-0845_Fact_Sheet_Election_Campaigns_2015SGE_Accessible.pdf. See also Sections 70 and 97L of the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981.

[59]      Correspondence from the Hon Keith Mason QC AC, Chairperson of the NSW Electoral Commission, to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee, dated 21 April 2016, p. 1.

[60]      Correspondence from the Hon Keith Mason QC AC, Chairperson of the NSW Electoral Commission, to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee, dated 21 April 2016, p. 1.

[61]      Statement by Chairperson, NSW Electoral Commission, 23 March 2016, p. 1.

[62]      NSW Electoral Commission, Summary of Facts relevant to the decision of the NSW Electoral Commission: Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) claim for public funding, p. 1.

[63]      NSW Electoral Commission, Summary of Facts relevant to the decision of the NSW Electoral Commission: Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) claim for public funding, p. 2.

[64]      NSW Electoral Commission, Summary of Facts relevant to the decision of the NSW Electoral Commission: Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) claim for public funding, p. 2.

[65]      NSW Electoral Commission, Summary of Facts relevant to the decision of the NSW Electoral Commission: Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) claim for public funding, p. 3.

[66]      NSW Electoral Commission, Summary of Facts relevant to the decision of the NSW Electoral Commission: Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) claim for public funding, p. 3.

[67]      See Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee, Interim report for the inquiry into Commonwealth legislative provisions relating to oversight of associated entities of political parties, 29 April 2016.

[68]      Correspondence from Mr Mark Leibler and Mr Jonathan Milner, Arnold Bloch Leibler, Lawyers and Advisors, acting for Senator the Hon Arthur Sinodinos AO, to The Hon Keith Mason AC QC, Chairperson, NSW Electoral Commission, dated 24 March 2016, p. 1. A copy of this correspondence is available on the NSW Electoral Commission's website at: www.elections.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/214771/24_March_2016_Letter_from_Arnold_Bloch_Leibler_about_23_March_2016_Statement_by_Chairperson_of_Commission-redacted.pdf.

[69]      Correspondence from Mr Mark Leibler and Mr Jonathan Milner, Arnold Bloch Leibler, Lawyers and Advisors, acting for Senator the Hon Arthur Sinodinos AO, to The Hon Keith Mason AC QC, Chairperson, NSW Electoral Commission, dated 24 March 2016, pp 2 and 3.

[70]      Correspondence from the Hon Keith Mason AC QC, Chairperson, NSW Electoral Commission, to Mr Mark Leibler and Mr Jonathan Milner, Arnold Bloch Leibler, Lawyers and Advisers, acting for Senator the Hon Arthur Sinodinos AO, dated 31 March 2016, p. 1. A copy of this correspondence is available at: http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/214770/31_March_2016_NSWEC_Response_to_Arnold_Bloch_Leibler_dated_24_March_2016_-_Redacted.pdf.

[71]      Submission 4.

[72]      See Response to the New South Wales Electoral Commission in relation to donations received by the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) from the Free Enterprise Foundation, p. 1, attached to correspondence from Ms Michelle Harpur, Partner, SWAAB Attorneys, acting for the NSW Division of the Liberal Party of Australia, to Ms Linda Franklin, Acting Electoral Commissioner (NSW), dated 18 March 2016. The letter and response are an attachment to the Statement by the Chairperson of the NSW Electoral Commission on 23 March 2016.

[73]      NSW Electoral Commission, Update to the Statement of 23 March 2016, by Chairperson NSW Electoral Commission, 31 March 2016, p. 1. Available at: http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/214772/31_March_2016_Update_to_the_Statement_23_March_2016_by_the_Chairperson,_NSW_Electoral_Commission.pdf.

[74]      NSW Electoral Commission, Update to the Statement of 23 March 2016, by Chairperson NSW Electoral Commission, 31 March 2016, p. 1.

[75]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 8.

[76]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 8.

[77]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 8.

[78]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp 7-8.

[79]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 8.

[80]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 8.

[81]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 8.

[82]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 8.

[83]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp 8- 9.

[84]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 11.

[85]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 9.

[86]       Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp. 15.

[87]      Submission 3, p. 2.

[88]      Submission 3, pp 2-3.

[89]      Submission 3, pp 3-4.

[90]      Submission 5, p. 1.

[91]      Submission 5, p. 2.

[92]      Submission 3, p. 4.

[93]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 21.

[94]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 21.

[95]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 22.

[96]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 22.

[97]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016. p. 22.

[98]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 22.

[99]      Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 23.

[100]    Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 23.

[101]    Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 23.

[102]    Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 6.

[103]    Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 10.

[104]    Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p. 23.

[105]    Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp. 22-23.

[106]    Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp. 22.

[107]    Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, pp. 2.

[108]    Answer to question on notice number 7 from 28 April 2016 hearing, received from AEC on 2 May 2016.

[109]    NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, Public Hearing for Operation Credo and Spicer, Transcript of Proceedings, 12 September 2014, p. 7689T.

Coalition Senators' Dissenting Report

[1] Committee Hansard, 28 April 2016, p.9.

Appendix 3 - Comparative table of Commonwealth and NSW funding and disclosure legislative provisions[1]

[1]        Derived from NSW Panel of Experts (Dr Kerry Schott (Chair), Mr Andrew Tink AM, The Hon John Watkins), Working Paper 1 – Overview of Australian Election Funding and Donations Disclosure Laws, August 2014, Annexure A: Summary of Commonwealth State and Territory Election funding and donations disclosure rules; NSW Electoral Commission website, Caps on Political Donations, available at: www.elections.nsw.gov.au/fd/political_donations/caps_on_political_donations; NSW Electoral Commission website, Unlawful Political Donations, available at: http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/fd/political_donations/unlawful_political_donations.

Appendix 4 - Penalties relating to the Commonwealth disclosure scheme[1]

[1]        Australian Electoral Commission, Financial Disclosure Guide for Associated Entities 2014-15 financial year, 13 July 2015, Appendix 3, p. 31.