WWF: AMENDMENTS TO BILL “A WIN FOR DEMOCRACY”

WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said changes to the Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform Bill which passed the Senate “are a win for democracy”.

An earlier version of the legislation was labelled the “Charity Gag Bill” because of the impact it would have had on non-profits.

“To give just one example, WWF’s efforts to advocate for increased protection of Antarctica could have been stymied because of donations received from overseas,” said Mr O’Gorman.

WWF-Australia is a member of the ‘Hands Off Our Charities’ alliance which has been working to change the Bill so that charities and non-profits can continue to advocate for the public good.

“WWF thanks the opposition and the government for coming together to propose amendments to protect the role of charities and the independent crossbench senators for their support,” Mr Gorman said.

“We also acknowledge that the government has listened to the civil society sector and put forward sensible changes to secure the right of civil society to speak up on issues that concern Australians,” he said.