24. Is there a ban on political parties taking loans in relation to election campaigns?

"213  Party secretary may enter into loan on behalf of party

(1)  A party may enter into a loan only with the authorisation of the party secretary.

(2)  Only the party secretary may enter into a loan on behalf of the party.

(3)  If the party secretary enters into a loan that is not in writing, the party secretary must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, make a written record of the loan. 

(4) A loan entered into in contravention of this section is an illegal contract for the purposes of subpart 5 of Part 2 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017. 

...[A host of other subsidiary requirements follow]...

214C Annual return of loans

(1)  A party secretary must file with the Electoral Commission, for each year, a re- turn setting out—

(a)  the details specified in subsection (2) in respect of—

1. (i)  every loan entered into during the year that has a loan amount ex- ceeding $15,000; and

2. (ii)  every loan entered into in any previous year that—

   1. (A)  has a loan amount exceeding $15,000; and

   2. (B)  at the close of 31 December of the year for which the return is filed, has an unpaid balance exceeding $15,000; and

(b)  the details specified in subsection (3) in respect of every loan entered in- to during the year that has a loan amount not exceeding $15,000, but which exceeds $15,000 when aggregated with—

1. (i)  the loan amounts of all other loans provided by the same lender during the year; or

2. (ii)  the unpaid balances of any loans provided by the same lender dur- ing any previous year; and

(c)  the details specified in subsection (4) in respect of all other loans entered into during the year that each have loan amounts of not less than $1,500 and not more than $15,000.

(2)  The details referred to in subsection (1)(a) are—

(a)  the name of the lender; and

(b)  the address of the lender; and

(c)  the loan amount; and

(d)  the date on which the loan was entered into; and 

(e) the repayment date for the loan, or a statement that there is no repayment date; and

(f) the interest rate or rates; and
(g) the unpaid balance of the loan amount, if any; and
(h) the name and address of any guarantor of the loan; and

(i) the details of any security given for the loan; and

(j) whether there is any term of the loan agreement or arrangement that ena- bles the lender to reduce or extinguish the loan amount or interest, or both, or grant any concession in respect of repayment of that amount or interest, or both. 

(3)  The details referred to in subsection (1)(b) are—

1. (a)  the details specified in subsection (2); and

2. (b)  the total of the aggregated loan amount.

(4)  The details referred to in subsection (1)(c) are—

1. (a)  the number of loans; and

2. (b)  the total of the aggregated loan amounts.

(5)  A return must—

1. (a)  be filed by 30 April of the following year; and

2. (b)  be in a form required by the Electoral Commission; and

3. (c)  be accompanied by an auditor’s report obtained under section 214D.

(6)  In this section, year means the period of 12 months starting on 1 January and ending with the close of 31 December.

(7)  Despite anything in subsection (1), if a party secretary is required to file under that subsection a return of party loans that relates to the year in which the party became registered, that return is to relate to the period beginning with the date of registration of the party and ending with 31 December of that year.

Section 214C: inserted, on 25 March 2014, by section 41 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 8). 

214D Auditor’s report on annual return of loans

(1)  A party secretary must, before the Electoral Commission receives the return re- quired by section 214C, obtain from the auditor appointed under section 206J a report on the return.

(2)  The auditor must state in the report whether, in the auditor’s opinion, the return fairly reflects the loans entered into by the party.

(3)  The auditor must make any examinations that the auditor considers necessary.

(4)  The auditor must specify in the report any case in which—

(a) the return does not, in the auditor’s opinion, fairly reflect the loans en- tered into by or on behalf of the party: 

(b)  the auditor has not received from the party secretary all the information that the auditor requires to carry out his or her duties:

(c)  proper records of loans entered into by or on behalf of the party have not, in the auditor’s opinion, been kept by the party secretary. 

(5) The auditor—

(a)  must have access at all reasonable times to all records, documents, and accounts that relate to the loans entered into by or on behalf of the party and that are held by the party or the party secretary; and

(b)  may require the party secretary to provide any information and explan- ation that, in the auditor’s opinion, may be necessary to enable the audi- tor to prepare the report.

Section 214D: inserted, on 25 March 2014, by section 41 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 8).

214E Nil return

If a party secretary considers that there is no relevant information to disclose

under section 214C, the party secretary must file a nil return under that section.

Section 214E: inserted, on 25 March 2014, by section 41 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 8). 

214F Return of loan provided by same lender exceeding $30,000

(1)  A party secretary must file with the Electoral Commission a return in respect of every loan entered into that has a loan amount exceeding $30,000.

(2)  A party secretary must file with the Electoral Commission a return in respect of every loan entered into—

(a)  that is provided by a lender who, in the 12 months immediately preced- ing the date on which the loan was entered into (the last 12 months), has provided 1 or more other loans to the party (previous loans); and

(b)  that exceeds $30,000 when the amount of the loan is aggregated with the loan amounts of all the previous loans."                                                                                  [Additional information follows in Section 214F of the Electoral Act. Truncated here for purposes of brevity.]

No restrictions regarding maximum amounts etc., but many rules concerning the procedure and disclosure.

Only a party secretary may take out loans on behalf of the party, party secretaries must keep records of those loans, and returns, with varying contents, must be filed for loans exceeding different threshold amounts.