5Meaning of “political donation”

#### 5 Meaning of “political donation” 5 Meaning of “political donation” (cf section 85 EFED Act) > > (1) For the purposes of this Act, a political donation is— > > > > > (a) a gift made to or for the benefit of a party or a group of candidates, or > > > > > (b) a gift made to or for the benefit of an elected member, the whole or part of which was used or is intended to be used by the elected member— > > > > > > > (i) solely or substantially for a purpose related to an election or to the elected member’s duties as an elected member, or > > > > > > > (ii) to enable the elected member to make, directly or indirectly, a political donation or to incur electoral expenditure, or > > > > > > > (iii) to reimburse the elected member for making, directly or indirectly, a political donation or incurring electoral expenditure, or > > > > > (c) a gift made to or for the benefit of a candidate, the whole or part of which was used or is intended to be used by the candidate— > > > > > > > (i) solely or substantially for a purpose related to an election, or > > > > > > > (ii) to enable the candidate to make, directly or indirectly, a political donation or to incur electoral expenditure, or > > > > > > > (iii) to reimburse the candidate for making, directly or indirectly, a political donation or incurring electoral expenditure, or > > > > > (d) a gift made to or for the benefit of an entity or other person (not being a party, elected member, group or candidate), the whole or part of which was used or is intended to be used by the entity or person— > > > > > > > (i) to enable the entity or person to make, directly or indirectly, a political donation or to incur electoral expenditure, or > > > > > > > (ii) to reimburse the entity or person for making, directly or indirectly, a political donation or incurring electoral expenditure. > > > (2) An amount paid by a person as a contribution, entry fee or other payment to entitle that or any other person to participate in or otherwise obtain any benefit from a fundraising venture or function (being an amount that forms part of the gross proceeds of the venture or function) is taken to be a gift for the purposes of this section. > > > (3) An annual or other subscription paid to a party by— > > > > > (a) a member of the party, or > > > > > (b) a person or entity (including an associated entity or industrial organisation) for affiliation with the party, > > > > is taken to be a gift to the party for the purposes of this section. > > > > Note. > > > > Unless details of any such subscription are required to be disclosed because it is a reportable political donation of or exceeding $1,000, the total amount of subscriptions and other details are required to be disclosed under section 19(4). > > > (4) The following dispositions of property are taken to be a gift for the purposes of this section— > > > > > (a) a disposition of property to a NSW branch of a party from the federal branch of the party, > > > > > (b) a disposition of property to a NSW branch of a party from another State or Territory branch of the party, > > > > > (c) a disposition of property from a party to another party. > > > > Note. > > > > Any such disposition will be a political donation that is required to be disclosed and subject to the caps on political donations under Part 3. Any such donation paid into (or held against the assets of) a federal election campaign account is not subject to the cap on donations—see section 24(2). > > > (5) Uncharged interest on a loan to an entity or other person is taken to be a gift to the entity or person for the purposes of this section. Uncharged interest is the additional amount that would have been payable by the entity or person if— > > > > > (a) the loan had been made on terms requiring the payment of interest at the generally prevailing interest rate for a loan of that kind, and > > > > > (b) any interest payable had not been waived, and > > > > > (c) any interest payments were not capitalised. > > > (6) A payment under Part 4 (Public funding of State election campaigns) or Part 5 (Administrative and New Party policy development funding) is not a political donation. > > > > Note. > > > > Even though an electoral funding payment to a candidate is not a donation required to be disclosed, the amount is required to be paid into the separate campaign account that is established for donations to and electoral expenditure by the candidate—see section 76(3). > > > (7) However, if any part of a gift that is not a political donation pursuant to subsection (1)(b)–(d) is subsequently used to incur electoral expenditure, that part of the gift becomes a political donation. > > > (8) For the purposes of this Act, a political donation made to or for the benefit of a party, third-party campaigner or associated entity is a political donation for a local government election if— > > > > > (a) in relation to a donation to a party—the donation is paid into (or held as an asset of) the local government campaign account of the party under Subdivision 1 of Division 5 of Part 3, and > > > > > (b) in relation to a donation to a third-party campaigner or associated entity—the third-party campaigner or associated entity establishes that the donation was made solely for the purposes of a local government election campaign.