Part 6A Political Education Fund

97A   Definition

In this Part:

Fund means the Political Education Fund established under this Part.

97AB   Application to State elections only

(1)  This Part does not apply to or in relation to local government elections.

(2)  Accordingly, a reference in this Part to an election or general election is a reference that relates to a State election.

97B   Political Education Fund

(1)  There is to be a Political Education Fund to be kept by the Authority in respect of each general election.

(2)  Payments from the Fund are to be distributed and spent in accordance with this Part.

97C   Parties entitled to receive annual payments from the Fund for purposes of political education

(1)  Following a general election, a registered party is entitled to receive annual payments from the Fund, until the polling day for the next general election, for the purposes of political education.

(2)  Political education purposes can include but are not limited to the posting of written materials and information, regardless of whether the information contains material only about the party concerned.

(3)  However, a registered party is not entitled to receive or spend payments from the Fund for political education purposes involving travelling or accommodation expenses.

(4)  A registered party is not entitled to receive payments from the Fund unless the party:

(a)  endorsed candidates for election to the Assembly at the general election, and

(b)  was entitled to receive funding under Division 3 of Part 5 in respect of the general election.

97D   Determinations relating to political education purposes

(1)  The Authority may, from time to time, make and publish determinations with respect to the purposes for which a registered party is entitled to receive and spend payments from the Fund.

(2)  The spending of payments received from the Fund must be in accordance with any such determinations.

(3)  The making of determinations under this section does not prevent the making of guidelines under section 24 with respect to matters under this Part.

97E   How payments from the Fund are to be determined

(1)  A party’s entitlement to annual payments from the Fund is to be determined as at 1 January in each year in respect of the last general election held before that date.

(2)  Payments are to be made from the Fund as soon as practicable after 1 January in each year, with the first payments to be made for the year beginning 1 January 1994.

(3)  The annual payment to a registered party is to be determined in accordance with the following formula:

where:

P represents the payment to the party from the Fund for the year concerned.

CS represents the cost (as at 1 December before the payment is made) of a postage stamp needed to post a standard postal article (within the meaning of the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 of the Commonwealth) by ordinary course of post in Sydney to an address in Sydney.

FPV represents the total number of first preference votes recorded at the last general election, on all ballot-papers not rejected as informal, for the candidates endorsed by the party for election to the Legislative Assembly.

97F   Party must claim for payments from the Fund

(1)  A registered party is entitled to receive a payment from the Fund under this Part only if the party claims for such payment in each year.

(2)  A claim must:

(a)  be lodged with the Authority and be in writing, and

(b)  be accompanied by a declaration, and such information as the Authority may require, under section 97H, and

(c)  be made before 1 July in the year for which payment is to be made.

97G   Payments from the Fund to be made to agents

(1)  Payments from the Fund under this Part are to be made to the agent of the registered party concerned.

(2)  The registered party must keep a separate account of any money received by it under this Part.

97H   Declarations etc by agents

(1)  An agent of any registered party which makes a claim for a payment under this Part must declare:

(a)  how any payment, not already declared under this section, was spent by the party, and

(b)  that any such payment was spent only in accordance with the Authority’s determinations or for such other purposes relating to political education as may be approved by the Authority.

(2)  Any such declaration must be accompanied by a certificate of an auditor stating that the auditor:

(a)  was given full and free access at all reasonable times to all records and documents of the party and the agent relating directly to the spending of the payment referred to in the declaration, and

(b)  examined such of those records and documents as the auditor considers material for the purpose of giving the certificate, and

(c)  received all information and explanations requested by the auditor with respect to the spending of the payment, and

(d)  is satisfied that, from the information available to the auditor, the payment was spent in accordance with this Part, and

(e)  has no reason to think that any statement in the declaration is not correct.

(3)  The Authority may request the agent to provide further information about the spending of any such payments if the Authority is not satisfied with the information provided with the claim.

(4)  The Authority is to make available to members of the public for inspection the contents of any declaration, certificate or other information it receives under this section.

97I   Recovery of unauthorised expenditure

(1)  If the Authority is satisfied that a registered party has spent any amount received by it under this Part in a manner contrary to the Authority’s determinations or other approved purpose, the Authority may require the party to return the amount to the Authority within 60 days after the Authority notifies the party.

(2)  If the party fails to return the amount within that time, the Authority may:

(a)  deduct the amount required to be returned from any amount which the party would be entitled to receive in the following year, or

(b)  recover the amount required to be returned as a debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.

97J   Unspent amounts to be carried over to following year

(1)  Any amount received by a registered party under this Part, and which is not spent by the party during the year in which the amount was received, is taken to be carried over as part of any amount which the party would be entitled to receive under this Part for the following year.

(2)  Any amount to be received for the following year is to be reduced accordingly by the amount unspent in the previous year.

(3)  If any such unspent amount remains unspent at the end of the following year, it must then be returned to the Authority.

(4)  If the party fails to return the unspent amount, the Authority may:

(a)  deduct the amount from any amount which the party would be entitled to receive in the following year, or

(b)  recover the amount as a debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.

97K   False statements

(1)  A person who, in any claim lodged with the Authority for a payment under this Part or in any declaration under this Part, makes a statement that is false or misleading in a material particular, knowing it to be false or not reasonably believing it to be true, is guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding 100 penalty units.

(2)  A person who, in relation to any matter to be included in a claim or declaration under this Part, gives or withholds giving information to the party or agent knowing that it will result in the making of a false or misleading claim or declaration in whole or in part is guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding 100 penalty units.