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MEDIA RELEASE NICK XENOPHON M.L.C.
INDEPENDENT
NO POKIES MEMBER
OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
FALLOUT
FROM CHERIE BLAIR’S ‘CHARITY FUNDRAISING TOUR’
OH,
MON(EY)CHERIE!
●
Following
news from Consumer Affairs Victoria
that a 10 February 2005 children’s cancer fundraising dinner in Melbourne at
which Cherie Blair was the guest speaker passed on only $16 000 of the $190 000
raised (or 8%), No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon has demanded that the State
Government provide details of the amount raised for charity at the 9 February
2005 Cherie Blair dinner at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Under Section
7 of the Collections for Charitable Purposes Act 1939 a licence is required
for fundraising events where ‘it
is held out that any part of the proceeds of the entertainment are to be devoted
(either wholly or partly) for any charitable purpose’. Section
12 provides
for the Minister responsible for the legislation (in this case, the Minister for
Gambling) to set conditions for such events. Under
Section 15(1) of the Act ‘Statements to be furnished by
licensees’ there is a requirement
for licence holders to “keep proper accounts of the receipts and payment of
money collected or received by it for charitable purposes and of the
receipt and disposal of goods collected or received by it for charitable
purposes.” Section
15(2) requires
the licence holders to submit a statement to the Minister “setting
out the money and goods so collected or received, the manner in which they have
been dealt with and such other information as is required by the Minister to be
included in the statement”. Mr Xenophon
called on Gambling Minister Michael Wright, who has responsibility for the Act,
to disclose how much was raised by the event for the Children’s Cancer
Institute “The
February 2005 Cherie Blair tour has prompted changes to the law that I pushed
for on charity fundraising events such as this – a Bill is currently before
Parliament. So, if the Minister took the issue seriously enough to introduce new
laws, surely he would have requested the figures by now for the 9 February
event, and those figures should be publicly disclosed.” Mr Xenophon
also called on Premier Rann, who welcomed Cherie Blair to the 9 February event,
to urge her to repay her ‘massive’
speaking fee back to the charity. “Cherie
Blair, a highly paid UK barrister and judge (and her hubby isn’t doing too
badly either) is in a better position than most to repay the significant fees
she pocketed from this tour, and I expect she would be influenced by any calls
from Premier Rann to do so.” “If
she doesn’t pay back the money then many would say that for Cherie Blair
‘charity begins at home’ – ‘home’ just happens to be No
Written and authorised by Nick Xenophon, 653 Lower North East Road, Paradise, SA 5075 |