Any move by the Coalition to narrow the definition of what constitutes an "environmental organisation" – and strip them of their charitable status as a result - would represent an "attack on Australian democracy", legal experts have warned.
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Donors to 600 Australian environment groups, including Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), face losing the right to deduct donations from their tax as a parliamentary committee investigates the register of organisations administered by the federal environment department.
Campaigners believe the inquiry is being driven by the mining industry. It was announced in March after a number of state-based Minerals Councils began publicly agitating for the charity status of environment groups to be revoked following effective campaigns against threats to the Great Barrier Reef, the coal seam gas industry and Queensland's mega expansion of coal mining.
They believe there is a political edge to the inquiry because the government has chosen to focus on the estimated $90 million returned to individuals for donations to environment groups rather than the $1.6 billion in deductions associated with churches and the big welfare charities and aid agencies.
The inquiry, chaired by Liberal backbencher Alex Hawke, will assess whether environment organisations focus on "on-ground" activities or political advocacy and whether they should retain "deductible gift recipient [DGR] status".
Legal academics have raised concerns around freedom of speech and the likelihood of a High Court challenge if the government tried to dictate that groups stick to "on-ground" activities and stay out of the political sphere as the cost of retaining their charitable status.
In a submission to the inquiry, six members of Adelaide University's law school said any legislative change that weakens debate about matters of public importance "has the potential to weaken Australian democracy".
"This participation has already been weakened after federal funding cuts to state and territory conservation councils and Environmental Defenders Offices," they said.
"A definition that excluded groups engaging in political debate from the environmental register – and, thus, from DGR status – would arguably place a burden on the freedom of political communication. It would do so by removing one incentive to make donations and thus depriving those organisations of funds they would otherwise be able to use for their political advocacy activities.
"We believe narrowing the definition of 'environmental organisation' to exclude groups engaging in political debate would not only be bad policy, but would also run the risk of constitutional invalidity.
"If activities are broadly within the public good, we submit the government ought not to discriminate between them on the basis of their perceived benefit, regardless of whether they align with the government's own beliefs of what is in the public good.
Thousands of submissions from the big miners down to local grassroots environment groups and there supporters are expected.
In a speech in February, Michael Roche, chief executive of the Queensland Resources Council, questioned why the "Fight for the Reef" campaign could afford TV advertising during last year's state-of-origin series.
"The top dozen activist groups – 11 of which have tax deductible status – have an estimated 476 staff. Their annual revenues total almost $90 million. They are combining these resources to go up against fossil fuels," he told a dinner hosted by the Australian Pipeline Industry Association.
"As we know in Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef is being used as a stalking horse … Activists are misrepresenting the threats to the reef from shipping and ports – ignoring in the main the scientifically documented pressures from crown of thorns starfish, poor water quality, bleaching and storms – which we can expect are doing more damage right now.
"The whole aim of this campaign and others is to pressure governments into making coal and gas exports from Queensland uneconomic. Remember, for the activists it's all about incremental gain."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott's conservative counterpart in Canada Stephen Harper has launched special tax audits on environmental groups and recently widened that to other aid organisations. He has been accused of "bullying tactics" and trying to silence criticism of the energy sector.
Russia, China and India have passed laws to silence opposition to mining and energy developments.
