CHANGES have been made to the way political parties can raise and spend money on election campaigns in the ACT under reform passed through the Legislative Assembly.

Attorney General Simon Corbell said there will also be increased transparency with regard to donations with a limit on donations of $10,000 per donor, per financial year, for the purposes of ACT election campaigning.

Under the reform, there is a limit of $60,000 expenditure per candidate in a political party and the definition of “gift” has been changed to ensure that payments of over $250 at fundraising events are considered to be gifts, thereby closing a loophole that allowed large amounts of money collected at fundraising dinners to be classed as payments for services.

“This legislation is designed to stop the arms race in electoral financing by placing limits that apply to all parties and their candidates for both donations and expenditure,” Mr Corbell said.

Mr Corbell said the bill was a sensible, measured and fair approach to political campaigning in the Territory.