06 May 2013
Donations to political parties by developers has not been supported by the Urban Taskforce for many years.
For many years the Urban Taskforce has been against the potential for developers to donate to political parties as this can lead to the appearance of undue influence, says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. We support the current ban on donations by developers in NSW so that the independence of the State or Local Government in determining development applications is maintained.
It is unfortunate that developers, who are providing an essential service to the community, have been put into the same camp as tobacco, gambling and alcohol companies where a negative impact can occur on the community.
The draft report to the NSW Government seems to be suggesting that individuals who are developers, as opposed to companies, could make donations like any other member of the community. Our recommendation to our members is that any donation to a political party, by a development company or by an individual developer, could be interpreted as influencing in some way a government decision and therefore should be avoided.
NSW needs a quality development industry to provide housing and places to work for our growing population but our industry has been positioned in a negative manner over recent years. We must rebuild the relationship between the development industry and the broader community and the best way to do this is by demonstrating our independence from political decision making.
