Page 32 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 2019
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To stress the background to the ban on property developers in particular, in its inquiry the Select Committee on the 2016 ACT Election and Electoral Act recommended that political donations from property developers be banned in the ACT. For those following along at home, that was recommendation 8.
The committee examined the findings of the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption on the New South Wales Liberal Party electoral funding for the 2011 state election campaign and other matters and the New South Wales parliament Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters’ recommendations in its report on the inquiry into the Final report of the expert panel—political donations, and it considered submissions from a range of parties, community members and, of course, the Electoral Commission.
The government response to that inquiry, which was tabled here early last year, agreed with that recommendation to ban for-profit property developer donations noting that perceived influence by property developers on government decisions is a serious concern. That response noted at the time that the planning and development involved frequent decisions by government that can have enormous consequences for the value and profits of private land developers.
The public of course has a strong interest in being certain that elections are not influenced by the private wealth that results from those decisions. Nationally there has been a growing understanding that the comparative ability of large for-profit corporations to make donations far in excess of those made by members of the public has the potential to distort the representativeness of our political democracy.
The legislation as drafted ensures that the ban on donations goes no further than necessary and focuses closely on the identified risks of undue influence on elections and ACT government decisions. It is worth stressing the definition of “property developer” as it currently stands:
A person who carries on a business involving the residential or commercial development of land to sell or lease for profit.
This definition includes an incorporated association under the Associations Incorporation Act 1991. Associations are ineligible for incorporation if they trade or obtain pecuniary gain for members. The definition also excludes other not-for-profit corporations. This section as currently drafted includes an example of a not-for-profit company as being a Corporations Act 2001 company limited by guarantee that does not operate to obtain pecuniary gain for their members. The definition also excludes a corporation prescribed by regulation.
I know that in principle we are all pretty on board but that, after that, there are some different views in this room. But I commend the willingness to work through amendments that have been put forward of all members today, on which I expect we will be hearing from the minister as well. As Mr Hanson said, there will be a longer conversation about this in the coming weeks as the amendments are worked through, including under and through our new standing orders. I thank the Attorney-General
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