They Must Think We're All Idiots - Part MCCXXXIV

One to make you wonder just who the Libs think they’re fooling…….
"THE political fund-raising arm of the federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, has been found to have breached electoral laws, while one of his principal donors has also failed to make required disclosures, according to documents lodged with the NSW Election Funding Authority....
After a five-month investigation, the authority found that the Warringah Club, which raises money for Mr Abbott's campaigns in his seat of Warringah, had broken the law by not disclosing the sources of its donations.
''The club failed to lodge a declaration [as required] and the matter is to be further investigated to determine whether to pursue prosecution,'' the authority's funding and disclosures director, Brian DeCelis, wrote to the NSW Greens, which raised an official complaint about the Warringah Club in May. But Mr DeCelis also found that the club and the NSW Liberal Party, which lodged false declarations relating to the club, ''did not understand their disclosure obligations'' and therefore would not be prosecuted for knowingly making a false statement."

WTF! A political party didn’t understand its political donation disclosure obligations under a 29 year-old piece of state legislation? No-one in Warringah could pick up the phone or get onto the Internet and download the 2007 version of this from the NSW Election Funding Authority?

“Registered political parties have obligations under the Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981 (the Act).
The Funding and Disclosure Guide for Political Parties and Party Agents is now available. The guide provides parties and party agents with information about their obligations under the Act and practical information about how to complete and lodge a disclosure form.
All political parties now have six monthly disclosure obligations with the Election Funding Authority. Party agents must lodge a disclosure with the Authority every six months disclosing the political donations received and electoral expenditure incurred by the party during the six month period ending 30 June and 31 December.
If the party has not received any political donations nor incurred any electoral expenditure during the disclosure period, the party agent must lodge a ‘nil’ disclosure.”