Disclosure Requirements

Several people have tried to claim that you do not need to include your name and address on a placard etc unless you spend $12,000 and register as a third party. They are wrong, and I shall quote the clause in full:

53 Election advertisements not to be published in regulated period unless certain conditions met

(1) No person may, during a regulated period, publish or cause or permit to be published any election advertisement unless—

(a) the advertisement contains a statement that sets out the name and address of the promoter of the advertisement; and
(b) the promoter is entitled to promote the advertisement.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), a promoter is entitled to promote an election advertisement if the promoter is—

(a) the financial agent of a party, but only if the advertisement is a party advertisement promoted by, or on behalf of, that party; or
(b) the financial agent of a candidate, but only if the advertisement is a candidate advertisement promoted by, or on behalf of, 1 or more candidates; or
(c) the financial agent of a third party; or
(d) a promoter who promotes election advertisements during the regulated period in respect of which expenses are incurred that—

(i) in total do not exceed $12,000 (inclusive of goods 20 and services tax); and
(ii) in the case of advertisements that relate to a candidate in the candidate’s capacity as a candidate for an electoral district (whether or not the name of the candidate is stated), do not exceed $1,000 (inclusive of goods and services tax).

So 53(1) makes it crystal clear that any person who publishes an election advertisement must include their name and address.

And 53(2)(d) makes it even clearer by defining an eligible promoter as one who is not a third party but spends under $12,000 nationally or $1,000 in an electorate.

So make no mistake, any election advertisement published next year must have your name and address on it – even if they cost $1. In my next post we’ll look at what is defined as an advertisement and then what is defined as published. They are incredibly wide. An election advertisement is now a post in Usenet, a chant on a protest march, a placard, a speech to a group of people, a chalk slogan on a pavement.