$22,668.88 in 5 days!

Dear ,

I’ve closed our appeal for funds to meet our legal costs.

Thanks to 23 of our members and supporters we have successfully raised $22,668.88 in addition to the $20,000 that had already been pledged. That will allow us to cover our costs order, as well as our lodgement fees for the action.

Well done and thank you.

With the state election due in just 81 days this will be a busy time for us, and we have set up a campaign account to comply with the state legislation.

That account is dedicated to Queensland state elections, as it is now illegal for prohibited donors (being someone who has more than a 20% interest in an entity that makes town planning applications for the sale or lease of land, or an officer of such an entity, or a close associate, like a spouse)  to donate to political parties and candidates, or third parties like us.

If you meet the definition of prohibited donor we can accept money from you, but it can’t be for electoral expenditure or to campaign for an election, so donations for these purposes need to be quarantined (fashionable word these days) from the rest of our income.

The definition of electoral expenditure has been broadened in the latest amendments to the Act, more than 200 of which were rushed through parliament in June, with only a few hours’ notice to the Opposition.

It is not clear what is electoral expenditure, so we have to be doubly careful.  

It has to be something which may directly or indirectly encourage someone to vote for or against a political party or candidate, or push a policy position associated with a political party, unless that is not its dominant purpose.

But it appears that electoral expenditure may occur at any time in the cycle, not just during the last weeks before an election.

To show you how absurd that is it could mean that the campaign we ran against the change of name of the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital could be characterised as electoral expenditure or expenditure for a campaign purpose.

 You can read the whole mess at S199 in the Electoral Act 1992.

Once again, thanks to those who contributed. If it wasn't for this court case we would all be much less sure about where we stand, making it very difficult for a range of organisations, not just us, to raise funds for research and advocacy.

Regards,

GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR