Page:Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021.pdf/139

Rh :(b) where the person is a repeat offender, to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

(3) A person is a repeat offender in relation to an offence under subsection (1) relating to a foreign affiliations report, foreign volunteers report or declaration if the person has been convicted or found guilty (whether before, on or after the date of commencement of this section) on at least one other earlier occasion of—
 * (a) an offence under subsection (1); or
 * (b) an offence under section 22(6) of the repealed Act.

(4) Where in any declaration which is required by section 79 to be given to the competent authority there is—
 * (a) any information or a statement that is false or misleading in a material particular; or
 * (b) an omission of any matter or thing without which the declaration is misleading in a material particular,

the person who made the declaration shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

(5) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) in relation to a foreign affiliations report, foreign volunteers report or declaration relating to such a report, or under subsection (4) in relation to a declaration required under section 79, it is a defence to the charge for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the accused took all reasonable steps, and exercised all due diligence, to ensure that—
 * (a) any information or statement in the report or declaration (as the case may be) was not false or misleading in a material particular; and
 * (b) the report or declaration did not contain any omission which would have made the report or declaration misleading in a material particular.