Pledge Here

Please Click to Pledge – Every dollar counts! Target $30,000

Your pledge will be held ready for when Wakehurst’s Independent is found & registered. With pledges in place the team will be able to set up the infrastructure and materials required to run the campaign and for the candidate to hit the deck running!

As soon as a candidate is registered your funds will be used to give them a fighting chance against the major parties. All funds will be wisely & cautiously spent.

NSW Electoral Commission – Donation & Pledging Information

Political donations are strictly regulated in New South Wales and penalties apply for non-compliance. Before making a donation, take the time to understand the rules to ensure that your donation complies with the law.

PLEDGE TIMING

Political donations made to, or for the benefit of a candidate can only be accepted after the candidate is registered.

To meet this requirement, Wakehurst’s Independent will register and hold your pledge (via MyCause).  Your pledge will only be processed once a candidate is registered.  Depending on when the pledge is made the registered pledge may be held for up to 8 weeks.

Rules on Pledging & Donations

Who can donate? A donor must be one of the following:

  • An individual enrolled to vote at Federal elections or in New South Wales for State or Local Government elections; or
  • an entity with a business number recognised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (eg: ABN or ACN); or
  • an individual or entity that has provided acceptable identification to the NSW Electoral Commission before making political donations (to be entitled to make political donations a prospective donor must complete and submit the Application for approval of acceptable identification by a potential political donor EF.704 form).

Who CAN’T donate:

  • Donations made by an Anonymous person or an entity.
  • Donors who have exceed their cap ($3300 for 2022-23 financial year) of who they are donating to.
  • Prohibited donors can’t donate.

A Prohibited donor is:

  • A property developer.
  • A tobacco industry business entity.
  • A liquor or gambling industry business entity.
  • Any industry representative organisation if the majority of its members are such prohibited donors.
  • A close associate of a prohibited donor.

If you are unsure if you are a Prohibited Donor, you can apply for a determination to be made by NSW Electoral Commission.

What is a donation? Political donations include:

  • A monetary gift (even if buying a Wakehurst Independent T-shirt to wear is deemed a donation).
  • A non-monetary gift eg: goods that a reduced rate or gratis.
  • The provision of a service at no charge, or at a discounted rate.
  • A contribution, entry fee or other payment allowing a person to participate in, or benefit from, a fundraising venture or function where the amount paid is part of the proceeds.
  • Annual or other subscriptions paid to a political party by a member of a party, or by a person or entity for affiliation with the party.
  • A disposition of property:
    • to a NSW branch of a political party from the Federal branch of the party;
    • to a NSW branch of a political party from another State or Territory branch of the party;
    • from a political party to another political party.
  • Uncharged interest on a loan ie: the additional amount that would have been payable to a lender if the loan had been made on terms requiring the payment of interest at the generally prevailing interest rate for a loan of that kind as set out in the guidelines of the NSW Electoral Commission, and the interest payable had not been waived, and any interest payments were not capitalised.
  • The NSW Electoral Commission’s guidelines provide further examples of what is and what is not a political donation (including information about interest rates for loans).

 How Much can I pledge/donate?

The maximum allowable cash-in-hand donation is $100.

The maximum cap you can donate in a financial year to one candidate, or the same party (or associated entity), elected member, group, candidate, third-party campaigner or person) is $3300 (including GST).

You can donate as many times as you want to, to the same recipient but only up to the cap of $3,300.

A couple of things to note:

Small donations:

A small political donation is a political donation of less than $1,000 or multiple political donations made by a donor to the same recipient, in a financial year, that in aggregate are less than $1,000.

A small political donation also includes where a person makes a political donation of $50 or less at a fundraising venture or function and the person makes no other political donations at the fundraiser. Such donations do not need to be aggregated with other donations made by that person to the same recipient in the financial year, to determine if the donations are, in aggregate, less than $1,000.

Once you donate $1000 and above (either in sum or in one go) within a financial year you are then deemed to be a Major Political Donor and will now be required to lodge an annual return with the NSW Electoral Commission for the financial year the donation/s were made– see below for detailsReporting Requirements (be alert not alarmed!)

Remember that donation reporting provides transparency and enables elections, which are free of bribery and corruption So reporting is a good thing!

All political entities (3rd party campaigners, candidates etc) also have reporting requirements.

All political entities are required to report:

  • All major Political donations $1000 and above, are required to be reported to the NSW Electoral Commission within 21 days of receipt.
  • All donations monthly (during the period 1st October 2022 to election day,25th March 2023), 6 monthly and annually;

When you are a deemed a Major Policial Donor (donate $1000 and above within the same financial year) you have will be required to submit an annual (end of financial year) report  due by 28th July year.

Reporting can be made online or via paper

Got a question or need more information?