Special Minister of State Ben Morton wrote to members of Congress that “many of these financing instruments are hidden in the dark”

Last modified on Monday, December 13, 2021 EST 04.14

The Morrison administration has urged members of Congress and senators to join the Climate 200 Fund and speak out "for" independent advocacy groups under new rules that may require them to disclose donors.

With the support of the Labor Party, the government passed an amendment to the Electoral Law this month. If entities spend more than $250,000 on election expenses each year, these entities will be mandatory to register as "significant third parties."

The law also expanded the definition of election expenses to include any expenses “related to the election” so that expenses such as campaign personnel and offices can trigger registration requirements.

On Monday, Special Secretary of State Ben Morton sent a letter to all federal MPs, suggesting that MPs contact the Australian Electoral Commission and ask them to remind them of "organizations that may even slightly meet [the] standards" and fulfill their new registration obligations.

At the same time, the Australian Institute launched a campaign to abolish these changes. A new poll found that 60% of Australians agree that advocacy for policy changes is an important part of the work done by charities, and only 15% oppose it.

In an email on Monday, Morton wrote that the new law will mean that “radical organizations seeking to influence election results will no longer be able to secretly cover up their election income and will face strict prohibitions on foreign donations from affecting Australian elections. Regulation".

Morton complained that "the sole or main purpose of establishing a new entity is to serve as a political fundraising tool."

"Many of these financing tools are hidden in the dark-they are established with a clear goal to avoid disclosure of election funds," he said.

"The potentially affected groups that you may know in your local community include'voice of (voters)','independents of (voters)','voting (name)','climate 200', and other organizations that raise funds. Spend election expenses."

Morton pointed out that the bill will soon be approved by the royal family, and "many organizations" will meet the standards "the day after tomorrow", including Voices groups, which means they need to register within 90 days.

"If an entity is required to register as an important third party, they will not be able to spend or raise funds to generate election expenses before registration."

The law also includes fines of up to $44,400 for unregistered.

"These reforms strengthen the integrity of Australia's electoral system," Morton said.

"This is not to prevent organizations from advocating. It is about the transparency of organizations trying to influence voters in elections."

The charity sector is concerned that the political activist law will mean that charities, trade unions, climate and environmental organizations will have to announce all their donors, even if their problem-based propaganda is only tangential to the election.

As part of an agreement, the Labour Party passed these laws, including the Coalition Party agreeing to abandon the controversial voter identification bill.

Labor's Andrew Leigh has said the opposition only passed the laws for fear the crossbench could wave them through, and has committed “revisit” the framework if elected to government.

The Australian Institute has called for the repeal of these laws, citing the need for retrospective registration of past expenditures and the “vague” definition of election expenditures.

It fears that organizations that use only a small portion of their income for election expenses will be captured, thereby imposing broader reporting requirements and restrictions on international philanthropy.

Ben Oquist, executive director of the Australian Institute, stated that “propaganda is an important part of the work of charities, and our research shows that most Australians agree”.

Oquist said that the "attack on charities" was the result of "a bad process," and the amendment was late and the Senate did not investigate and review the unintended consequences.

He said: "There was no notice, few public explanations, and no industry consultation." "We have just witnessed the biggest attack on the Australian charity sector that the public has never heard of."