Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has welcomed the decision of the Australian
Hotels Association to freeze all political donations and called on
Premier Morris Iemma to fastrack political funding reform.
“The Greens congratulate the AHA on doing the right thing. Their
decision sends a clear message to other big donors and the federal and
state governments that its time to clean up political donations,” Ms
Rhiannon said.
“The Greens are hopeful that the AHA freeze will be copied by hotel
owners. In the lead up to the 2007 state election individual hotels
made more than 400 separate donations to the Labor and Coalition
parties.
"The hotels industry donated $1.7 million to the government and over $1
million to the coalition between 2003-2007. Of this $2.7 million, $1.8
million came directly from the hotels lobby group, the Australian
Hotels Association (AHA).
Greens NSW MP Lee Rhiannon has released new data showing that donations
by the hotels industry to the major parties in NSW have increased by 22
percent since the 2003 NSW election. Donations from clubs have
increased by 34 percent. Hotels donated $2.7 million to the major
parties between 2003-2007 and clubs over $845,000.
"New data from the Greens Democracy4Sale Project shows a dramatic
increase in donations from the pubs and clubs industry between the 2003
and 2007 NSW elections," Ms Rhiannon said.
"There can be no serious policy debate about how best to combat alcohol
and gambling in NSW until the corrupting influence of donations is
erased from the political landscape.
Elizabeth Farrelly, Sydney Morning Herald journalist and commentator, published a glowing opinion piece today with high praise for the Greens' Democracy4sale project.
Extract:
"Thank God for the Greens. I've often argued that they should
stick to green issues, rather than adopting every homeless puppy of
a cause they see in the soft-left shop window. But when it comes to
their Democracy 4 $ale website we - all of us - have much to thank
them for. Not just for keeping the bastards honest when the
Opposition lost its bottle (the one with a warm rubber teat they
dropped through the cot bars and have been whimpering for ever
since). But for concretising an issue whose environmental impact
is, as it happens, huge."
Greens MP and donations spokesperson Lee Rhiannon says Premier Morris Iemma must immediately outline his timetable for introducing laws that ban donations, now he has promised a first round of donations law reform by June 2008.
“NSW Labor Party Secretary Karl Bitar told the Greens the big ticket donations law changes will be put in place by 2011, but it needs to occur much more rapidly,” Ms Rhiannon said.
Greens MP and donations spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has called for an independent audit of the 2007 state election candidate returns as a necessary step to restore public confidence in the political process.
"Premier Iemma has promised donations reform but NSW Labor is paralysed in the grip of its donations scandals and cannot see a clear way forward," said Ms Rhiannon.
"The Greens are demanding urgent action to fix the donations mess, starting with an independent review of all 2007 NSW election returns by the Auditor General.
"Labor can't be trusted to conduct an internal audit of developer donations. They should immediately hand over all their election campaign records to the Auditor General's office for an independent audit.
The New South Wales Greens have called for a royal
commission into state planning decisions, following a number of
allegations the Government overrode advice to deliver huge windfalls to
ALP donors.
The NSW Labor Party is conducting an audit of political donations
received by MPs after a number of embarrassing revelations about
undeclared amounts from developers. State secretary Karl Bitar says the system is too complex and he
looks forward to a ban on all political donations proposed by the
Premier, but Greens MP Sylvia Hale is not convinced.
"What the ALP did not want to reveal publicly was just the extent to
which they are indebted to the planning industry to finance their
campaigns," she said.
Ms Hale says there are too many examples of Planning Minister Frank
Sartor overriding independent advice in making decisions that have
proved profitable for Labor donors.
The NSW Greens have called for the Planning Minister Frank Sartor to be stood aside while there is an independent investigation into allegations, aired in Sydney newspapers and on last night's 4 Corners
program on ABC TV, that planning decisions he has made were influenced by political donations and lobbying efforts by developers.
“In both the Tralee development near Queenbeyan and the Sweetwater development in the Hunter Valley Mr Sartor overrode independent planning advice in making decisions that delivered huge windfall financial gains
to major donors to the Labor Party,” said NSW Greens Planning Spokesperson Sylvia Hale MLC.
“Mr Sartor’s continuing assertions that political donations don’t affect planning decisions become more absurd with each new revelation that planning advice has been overridden in a developer’s favour.”
