Ban on Political Donations for Registered Clubs That Offer Gambling
Electoral Funding Amendment (Registered Clubs) Bill 2023
Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly
Assent
Introduced by: The Hon John Graham MLC (ALP); Jo Haylen MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Alex Greenwich IND
“I will continue from where I left off. We have given clubs extraordinary tax exemptions under which they pay no tax on gambling profits under $1 million and can forgo paying tax on profits above that amount when they use the money to fund community projects of their choice through the ClubGRANTS scheme.”
Helen Dalton IND
“I make a small contribution to debate on the Electoral Funding Amendment (Registered Clubs) Bill 2023, which I certainly welcome. No-one likes a bully, and during the election campaign ClubsNSW unashamedly targeted me, placing a life-size cut-out of me in every participating club in the electorate of Murray, in an effort to intimidate and bully me.”
Mr GARETH WARD
“I support the Electoral Funding Amendment (Registered Clubs) Bill 2023 and the very considered amendments of my friend and colleague the member for Sydney. I thank the Government for introducing the bill, although I make a couple of observations. Firstly, I join other members of the crossbench and the Opposition side of the House in relation to gambling reform.”
Jo Haylen ALP
“As members would be aware, the bill proposes amendments to the Electoral Funding Act and the Electoral Funding Regulation to deliver on an election commitment and ensure that registered clubs involved in gambling are banned from making political donations like the rest of the gambling industry in New South Wales.”
News articles and press releases
Electoral Funding Amendment (Registered Clubs) Bill 2023
The Hon. JOHN GRAHAM, Minister for Roads — 2023-05-11
This reform will close gaps in the existing law that have allowed clubs with substantial interests in poker machines to donate to politics in New South Wales, even though other liquor and gambling industry entities were banned from doing so. One such gap is the need for an entity to be engaged in a business undertaking "for the ultimate purpose of making a profit" in order to be captured. Closing those gaps is consistent with the existing policy taken in this House of prohibiting liquor or gambling industry business entities from making political donations. In the view of the Government, the distinction was not justified by any strong policy rationale.