Democracy for Sale

27 February 2010  Sydney Morning Herald & The Age

Adele Ferguson and Eric Johnston investigate the many ways pharmaceutical companies buy influence in Canberra - including hiring former government staffers both internally and externally, lobbying, issuing ads and making huge political contributions to the major parties.

As Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says is the article, there is a real risk good public policy-making is distorted as a result of these pharmaceutical donations to government.

10 February 2010  Central

Robert Burton-Bradley has carefully investigated many of the issues surrounding the controversy about Cr Mallard voting on two development applications from a large donor to his campaign for the Sydney Council election.  The NSW Election Funding Authority confirms the donations went to Mallard.  Sydney Council CEO Monica Barone only referred Mallard's self referral about his vote on the DAs to the Department of Local Government.  For some reason Barone did not sent a complete complaint submitted by a local resident to the Department.  The resident now has gone to the Department and the case has been re-opened on Mallard possibly beaching Sydney Council's code of conduct.  Read this article below and Burton-Bradley's earlier article on the same matter on 2 February 2010.

6 February 2010  Sydney Morning Herald

Cash for access faces an overhaul, write Adele Ferguson and Eric Johnston.  But will it happen?  

As accounting firms have beefed up lobbying efforts, they are also ramping up political donations, often on behalf of clients seeking access or to influence politicians or to silence the opposition, an investigation has found.  Research commissioned by the Herald from Democracy4Sale director Norman Thompson has found that accounting/advisory firms are donating vast sums to the major parties.

6 February 2010  Sydney Morning Herald

The stakes are high and businesses are prepared to pull out all the stops to get their way with the big political parties, write Eric Johnston and Adele Ferguson.   Paid lobbyists, campaigns to frighten politicians, political donations, numerous fund raising groups, just whatever it takes.

One of these large fund raising organisations is in NSW.  "The most prominent, the Millennium Forum, was set up in NSW in 1998 to raise money for the Liberal Party, to help it out of a financial crisis. It now pulls in at least $700,000 from subscriptions alone, according to the website Democracy4Sale."