Electoral Legislation (Political Donations) Amendment Bill 2018* (Qld)

An Act to amend the Electoral Act 1992 and the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 for particular purposes The Parliament of Queensland enacts—

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Short title This Act may be cited as the Electoral Legislation (Political Donations) Amendment Act 2018.

Part 2 Amendment of Electoral Act 1992

2 Act amended This part amends the Electoral Act 1992.

3 Amendment of s 2 (Definitions) Section 2— insert— political donation, for part 11, see section 201B. prohibited corporate donor, for part 11, division 8, subdivision 5, see section 280.

4 Amendment of s 197 (Definitions) Section 197— insert— political donation see section 201B. prohibited corporate donor, for division 8, subdivision 5, see section 280.

5 Insertion of new s 201B After section 201A— insert—

201B Meaning of political donation (1) For this part, each of the following is a political donation— (a) a gift made to or for the benefit of— (i) a political party; or (ii) an elected member; or (iii) a candidate in an election; (b) a gift made to or for the benefit of another entity— (i) to enable the entity (directly or indirectly) to make a gift mentioned in paragraph (a) or to incur electoral expenditure; or (ii) to reimburse the entity (directly or indirectly) for making a gift mentioned in paragraph (a) or incurring electoral expenditure; (c) a loan from an entity other than a financial institution that, if the loan were a gift, would be a gift mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b). (2) If a gift is made by a person in a private capacity to an individual (the recipient) for the recipient's personal use and the recipient does not intend to use the gift for an electoral purpose— (a) the gift is not a political donation when it is made; but (b) if any part of the gift is used for an electoral purpose— (i) that part of the gift is a political donation; and (ii) the recipient is taken to accept that part of the gift at the time it is used for an electoral purpose. (3) A reference in subsection (2) to using a gift for an electoral purpose is a reference to using the gift to incur electoral expenditure or for the recipient's duties as an elected member. (4) Despite section 201(4)(a) and (b), a reference in this section to a gift includes a fundraising contribution, to the extent the amount of the contribution forms part of the proceeds of the fundraising venture or function to which the contribution relates. (5) Despite section 201(4)(d), a reference in this section to a gift includes any of the following amounts paid by a person to a political party, to the extent the total amount of the person's payments in a calendar year exceeds $1,000— (a) an amount paid as a subscription for a person's membership of the party; (b) an amount paid for a person's affiliation with the party.