sign in sign up
<<
Home , John Hewson

From: Paul Oosting To: Committee EM (REPS)

Date: Friday, 2 December 2016 2:48:05 PM

Dear JSCEM,

Thanks again for considering our submission and the necessary reforms to create a fairer electoral system, the Dark Money report and petition.

Here are our responses to the questions on notice.

Question: The full results of the survey in the same format you have published previously

Answer: We have provided the survey to the Committee in the format it was published this year.

Question: We would be happy to take on notice if there is further information we can provide in relation to how we intend to spend that.

Answer: GetUp receives donations to support our movement’s work and to support campaigns we are actively working on. Successive governments have failed to protect the Great Barrier Reef or address its biggest threat - . The Great Barrier Reef employs over 69,000 Australians directly and is recognised for its universal value, being declared a United Nations World Heritage Site by Liberal Prime Minister in 1981. Hundreds of thousands of GetUp members have taken action to raise awareness of threats to the Reef since the campaign was launched in 2012 and 40,010 people have chipped in to to the campaign of which the Oak Foundation was one.

Question: We are happy to take on notice our seed funding—absolutely. I am happy to get back to you on that… I was taking on notice whether or not we will provide that information… Consistent with the terms of reference we will take on notice whether or not we can provide that information.

Answer: GetUp was founded eleven years ago and followed all regulations in place at the time in relation to disclosures. Donations received by volunteers at the time were released in the media and from the beginning of the 2005/06 financial year donations over $10,000 were disclosed on our website and remain there.

Question: When was John Hewson was a board member.

Answer: John Hewson was a founding board member in 2005.

Question: Composition of the board - how many are AICD members.

Answer: The composition of GetUp’s Board is in the public domain and can be viewed here: www.getup.org.au/Board. GetUp’s Board includes a member of Institute of Company Directors and graduate of the AICD Company Directors course, a member of the Order of Australia, a barrister admitted to practice in Victoria, the Federal Court of Australia and the High Court of Australia, and a highly experienced Chief Financial Officer. It is an experienced, diverse group.

Question:“Given the time, could I ask. you to take on notice the methodology and how you develop that, because I must confess that I have actually used that survey myself and, no matter how hard I try, I can never get it to provide a option as a candidate. So I would be very interested to know how that actually works.”

Answer: The Chair may be confused as we do not have such a website. Perhaps the Chair was referring to the ABC’s VoteCompass which recommends candidates based on a person’s political beliefs. If so, given the Senator never received the Coalition as a recommendation it might indicate the Senator’s views and values do not align with the Coalition policies. Question: Perhaps on notice, could you detail for me where you have ever supported any issues, campaigns or policies by any party apart from Labor or the Greens?” “We will take that on notice.”

Answer: GetUp is a proudly independent campaigning community. Our independence comes from judging politicians and parties on the merits of the policies and positions they take and the values they stand for.

We always want to achieve bipartisan support for the issues we work on, most of which have majority public support such as action on climate change, fully funded hospitals and schools and an economy built in the interests of all Australians.

We have opposed and supported all major parties on different policies at various times and will continue to hold politicians from all sides of politics to account.

Here are a few examples of times we’ve supported parties other than the or the Greens:

In 2006, we campaigned to abolish ministerial control over the approval of and access to the drug RU486, supporting MPs from parties including the Australian Democrats, the L beral Party and the Nationals: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/ru486-bill- finds-support/2006/02/07/1139074230103.html In 2010, our federal election scorecard rated the Coalition’s mental health and internet freedom policies above Labor’s: https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/federal- election/scorecards-election-2010/2010-election-scorecard In 2014 the South Australian and GetUp jointly called for a review and reforms to South Australia’s electoral system: https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/fairvotes-south-australia/southaustralia/sick-of- being-ignored In February 2016, we backed in Liberal Premier Mike Baird’s support of the campaign to #LetThemStay: https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/arts-and-culture/getup-appropriates-fbs- friends-day-video-tells-tur/0ed7a9c5-8eb9-4c67-89c3-1c1f380fce0f.htm? fb_comment_id=957945830951540_958098130936310#f2de243dbdb4dec Before the 2016 election, we called for a move to optional preferential voting in the Senate, and supported the Government’s when it acted to reform the Senate Voting system: https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/democracy/senate-reform/senate-reform- what-s-it-all-about In November 2016 we supported the Government’s reforms to superannuation: http://www.afr.com/news/getup-and-scott-morrison-unusual-bedfellows-in-super-fight- 20160907-graxmj