Parties warn ACT real-time donation reporting law change could force publication of member lists

ACT Labor, the ACT Greens and the Canberra Liberals have expressed concern about lowering the real-time donation reporting threshold to $100.

ACT Labor secretary Ash van Dijk told the inquiry in a submission the change "may require ACT Labor to publish the details of a majority of ACT Labor members, as the general membership fee of ACT Labor exceeds $100 annually".

"This is of significant concern in relation to members' privacy," Mr van Dijk said.

The change to the electoral laws outlined by the government's bill could be in conflict with an existing clause of the Electoral Act, which makes clear parties do not need to publish a list of all members.

The Legislative Assembly's standing committee on justice and community safety is considering the government's Electoral and Road Safety Amendment Bill, which was introduced in June.

The ACT Greens said the lower reporting threshold for all receipts would "transform the annual reporting into a readout of party memberships".

"This could have unhelpful ramifications for democracy," the party's submission, written by party convener Michael Brewer and party director Adam Poulter, said.

The pair said the Greens welcomed party finances transparency but a "$100 [threshold] may genuinely be too low".

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The government's proposed changes also include a new exemption for small donations, which would mean people can make 12 donations less than $100 in a year without requiring a disclosure. However, if the person makes 13 or more donations, all donations need to be reported with seven days of the party receiving the 13^th donation.

Canberra Liberals director Kieran Douglas told the inquiry the proposed change to donation reporting was well-intentioned but could undermine public confidence in political party transparency by creating more opportunity unintentional breaches.

"The 'small donation' exemption and $100 threshold are impractical as currently drafted. For example, if a Party member were to attend 13 Branch meetings and purchase raffle tickets of $3 this would require the Party to disclose this member for 13 'gifts' totalling $39," Mr Douglas wrote.

The government's proposed changes to electoral laws would also ban foreign political donations and make a two-week early voting period permanent. Candidates would also only be allowed 250 corflutes, which will be banned from high-speed arterial roads.

A spokesman for the ACT government said the amendments would introduce real-time reporting of all donations, not membership lists or other specific donation types.

"All submissions to the inquiry and the report of the committee will be considered by the government and responded to as part of the legislative process," the spokesman said.

"Any amendments the government may bring forward will be informed by the committee's work."

The Assembly inquiry is due to report by August 27.

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