29 November 2010
From 1 January 2011, the existing NSW ban on political donations from property developers will be extended to tobacco industry business entities and liquor or gambling industry business entities.
Its important to note that the existing ban on property developers, and the extended ban, does not just apply to corporations, but it also includes:
- a director or officer of the corporation or the spouse or defacto spouse of such a director or officer;
- a related body corporate of the corporation;
- a person whose voting power in the corporation or a related body corporate of the corporation is greater than 20 per cent or the spouse or defacto spouse of such a person;
- if the corporation or a related body corporate of the corporation is a stapled entity in relation to a stapled security”the other stapled entity in relation to that stapled security;
- if the corporation is a trustee, manager or responsible entity in relation to a trust”a person who holds more than 20 per cent of the units in the trust (in the case of a unit trust) or is a beneficiary of the trust (in the case of a discretionary trust).
It is irrelevant that an individual might seek to make a payment on their own behalf, rather than on their companys behalf. There is no permissible donation amount (that is, it doesnt matter whether it is above or below $1,000). Paying money to attend a political fund-raiser is the same as making a political donation.
The media continue to highlight any payment to a political party that they think might be contrary to the spirit of the ban (for example, see this article from last week).
