Amendments Nos. 211 and 212 are related and may be discussed together, by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.
SECTION 59
Acting Chairman
I move amendment No. 211:
In page 44, subsection (2) (a), line 5, after "section" to insert "and the Public Offices Commission shall inform the Minister for Finance".
We have already discussed this amendment in a general sense on a previous occasion in a different context. The system should be streamlined by ruling that the Public Offices Commission should be informed rather than candidates having to write letters to the Minister for Finance, the Public Offices Commission and the Registrar. It can then inform the Minister for Finance. This amendment proposes to eliminate the duplication involved.
Under section 59 (2) (a), the Public Offices Commission needs to know the name and address of the authorised officer in connection with its functions about the appointment of a national agent of the party, the furnishing of donation statements and expenditure by the party on behalf of candidates. The Minister for Finance has a different function and only needs to know about qualified parties who achieve 2 per cent of first preference votes in a general election, so he can authorise recoupment. These functions are separate and I do not think political parties are overburdened in having to write to two different people.
I take the Minister's point.
There is a fallback position in the case of a party not notifying an authorised officer. The leader of the party will be deemed to have been the appropriate officer. I understand the Green Party does not have a leader so I do not know how this will operate in that case.
We discussed this earlier and were prepared to include "general secretary " or "leader."
I am not sure whether it has a general secretary either.
Acting Chairman
We would have to be guided by the principle of collective leadership.
These anomalies can arise.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Amendment No. 212 not moved.
Section 59 agreed to.