[Page Break] Election Funding and Disclosures Amendment (Property Developers Prohibition) Bill 2009 No , 2009 A Bill for An Act to amend the Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981 to prohibit political donations by property developers. [Page Break] Clause 1 Prohibition) Bill 2009 The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1 1 Name of Act 2 This Act is the Election Funding and Disclosures Amendment (Property 3 Developers Prohibition) Act 2009. 4 2 Commencement 5 This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act. 6 Page 2 [Page Break] Prohibition) Bill 2009 Amendment of Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981 No 78 Schedule 1 Schedule 1 Amendment of Election Funding and 1 Disclosures Act 1981 No 78 2 [1] Part 6, Division 4A 3 Insert after Division 4: 4 Division 4A Prohibition of property developer donations 5 96GA Political donations by property developers unlawful 6 (1) It is unlawful for a property developer to make a political 7 donation. 8 (2) It is unlawful for a person to make a political donation on behalf 9 of a property developer. 10 (3) It is unlawful for a person to accept a political donation that was 11 made (wholly or partly) by a property developer or by a person 12 on behalf of a property developer. 13 (4) It is unlawful for a property developer to solicit another person to 14 make a political donation. 15 (5) It is unlawful for a person to solicit another person on behalf of a 16 property developer to make a political donation. 17 Note. Section 96I makes it an offence to do any act knowing that it is 18 unlawful under this Division. Section 96J also provides for the recovery 19 by the Authority of unlawful political donations. 20 96GB Meaning of "property developer" 21 (1) Each of the following persons is a property developer for the 22 purposes of this Division: 23 (a) a corporation engaged in a business that regularly involves 24 the making of relevant planning applications by or on 25 behalf of the corporation in connection with the residential 26 or commercial development of land, with the ultimate 27 purpose of the sale or lease of the land for profit, 28 (b) a person who is a close associate of a corporation referred 29 to in paragraph (a). 30 (2) Any activity engaged in by a corporation for the dominant 31 purpose of providing commercial premises at which the 32 corporation or a related body corporate of the corporation will 33 carry on business is to be disregarded for the purpose of 34 determining whether the corporation is a property developer 35 unless that business involves the sale or leasing of a substantial 36 part of the premises. 37 Page 3 [Page Break] Prohibition) Bill 2009 Schedule 1 Amendment of Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981 No 78 (3) In this section: 1 close associate of a corporation means each of the following: 2 (a) a director or officer of the corporation or the spouse of 3 such a director or officer, 4 (b) a related body corporate of the corporation, 5 (c) a person whose voting power in the corporation or a related 6 body corporate of the corporation is greater than 20% or 7 the spouse of such a person, 8 (d) if the corporation or a related body corporate of the 9 corporation is a stapled entity in relation to a stapled 10 security--the other stapled entity in relation to that stapled 11 security, 12 (e) if the corporation is a trustee, manager or responsible 13 entity in relation to a trust--a person who holds more than 14 20% of the units in the trust (in the case of a unit trust) or 15 is a beneficiary of the trust (in the case of a discretionary 16 trust). 17 officer has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001 of 18 the Commonwealth. 19 related body corporate has the same meaning as in the 20 Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth. 21 relevant planning application has the same meaning as in 22 section 147 (Disclosure of political donations and gifts) of the 23 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. 24 spouse of a person includes a person who is in a de facto 25 relationship (within the meaning of the Property (Relationships) 26 Act 1984) with the person. 27 stapled entity means an entity the interests in which are traded 28 along with the interests in another entity as stapled securities and 29 (in the case of a stapled entity that is a trust) includes any trustee, 30 manager or responsible entity in relation to the trust. 31 voting power has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 32 2001 of the Commonwealth. 33 96GC Loans included as political donations 34 (1) A loan that, if it had been a gift, would be a political donation is 35 to be regarded as a political donation for the purposes of this 36 Division unless the loan is from a financial institution. 37 Page 4 [Page Break] Prohibition) Bill 2009 Amendment of Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981 No 78 Schedule 1 (2) In this section: 1 financial institution means an entity whose principal business is 2 the provision of financial services or financial products, and 3 includes a bank, credit union, building society or other entity 4 prescribed by the regulations. 5 loan means an advance of money, the provision of credit or any 6 other transaction that in substance effects a loan of money. 7 96GD Exception for membership contributions 8 An annual or other subscription paid to a party by an individual 9 as a member of the party or for the individual's affiliation with 10 the party is not a political donation for the purposes of this 11 Division unless it is a reportable political donation. 12 Note. A political donation of $1,000 or more is a reportable political 13 donation--see section 86. 14 96GE Determination by Authority that person not a property developer 15 (1) A person (the applicant) may apply to the Authority for a 16 determination by the Authority that the applicant or another 17 person is not a property developer for the purposes of this 18 Division. 19 (2) The Authority is authorised to make such a determination if the 20 Authority is satisfied that it is more likely than not that the person 21 is not a property developer. The Authority is to make its 22 determination solely on the basis of information provided by the 23 applicant. 24 (3) The Authority's determination remains in force for 12 months 25 after it is made but can be revoked by the Authority at any time 26 by notice in writing to the applicant. 27 (4) The Authority's determination is conclusively presumed to be 28 correct in favour of any person for the purposes of a political 29 donation that the person makes or accepts while the 30 determination is in force (even if the determination is 31 subsequently found to be incorrect). 32 (5) The Authority's determination is not presumed to be correct in 33 favour of any person who makes or accepts a political donation 34 knowing that information provided to the Authority in 35 connection with the making of the determination was false or 36 misleading in a material particular. 37 (6) The Authority is to maintain a public register of the 38 determinations made under this section and is to publish the 39 register on a website maintained by the Authority. 40 Page 5 [Page Break] Prohibition) Bill 2009 Schedule 1 Amendment of Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981 No 78 (7) A person who provides information to the Authority in 1 connection with an application for a determination by the 2 Authority under this section knowing that the information is false 3 or misleading in a material particular is guilty of an offence. 4 Maximum penalty: 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 5 12 months, or both. 6 (8) The Authority may establish and publicise policies as to how the 7 Authority will deal with applications for determinations under 8 this section. 9 [2] Section 96I Other offences 10 Omit "Division 3 or 4" from section 96I (1). 11 Insert instead "Division 3, 4 or 4A". 12 Page 6