Urban Development Institute of Australia
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1. Submission No 41 Panel of Experts Political Donations Submitted by Stephen Albin Chief Executive Urban Development Institute of Australia Date 17 September 2014 Urban N Development Institute of Australia NEW SOUTH WALES 17 September 2014 Dr Kerry Schott Chair Expert Panel on Political Donations GPO Box 5341 Sydney NSW 2001 By Email donationsreform dpc nsw gov au Dear Dr Schott The Urban Development Institute of Australia UDIA NSW is the leading property industry group promoting the responsible growth of this State We have around 500 company members and more than 3 000 of their employees attend our events sit on our committees undertake training or are involved in the activities of the organisation on an annual basis Our organisation is the oldest property development advocacy group in the country and was established in 1962 UDIA NSW is governed by a 13 person Council that is elected annually by the membership We have 8 policy committees that meet monthly and they actively advise the council on policy positions To maintain a balanced perspective for the benefits of all our membership UDIA NSW does not lobby for specific projects we are a research and public policy based organisation UDIA NSW congratulates the Premier on the establishment of a panel of experts to consider the matter of political donations and the public funding of election campaigns Recent happenings at the Independen2. UDIA also recognises that recent cases considered by the High Court may place in question the Urban Development PO Box 040z Insttute of Australia QV Post Office NSW 1230 NEW SOUTH WALES suite 2 Level 11 66 King Street Sydney NSW e udiaitudia nsw com Au t 02922 1214 W VAWWUCIans vw com Au abn 43 001 172 363 Urban N Development Institute of Australia NEW SOUTH WALES constitutional validity of prohibiting political donations by certain industries and groups If this is the case as an alternative to prohibiting and discriminating against certain industries and groups it may make more sense to address the causes of the problems and not the symptoms In the event that any acceptance of publically funded campaigns is not acceptable from a legal and public viewpoint and that is UDIA NSW s position UDIA NSW proposes that the Expert Panel considers the following measures to address the wider issues of the conferring of benefits by recipients of donations mpose a cap on political donations by individuals corporations and groups to appropriate and only very moderate levels e Introduce a system of continuous and immediate disclosure of all political donations local State and Commonwealth with full on line public access to this information via the AEC e Tighten the laws and increase the penalties relating to breaches of cap and non disclosure including the introduction of anti avoidance and grouping measures
3. e Remove politicians Federal State Local Government from making decisions on specific development approvals referral agency approvals and re zonings as was originally proposed in the new planning system reforms that were abandoned in the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of NSW in 2013 UDIA NSW would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Expert Panel to discuss these matters further Should you have any matters you wish to discuss can be contacted on salbin udia nsw com au Yours sincerely f AT Aft FEF J ALLIS US fy f a Stephen Albin Chief Executive Urban Development PO Box 0402 Insttute of Australia QWB Post Office NSW 1230 NEW SOUTH WALES Suite 2 Level 11 66 King Street sydney NSW e udiagtudia nswcom au t 02922 1214 W WA udianewcom au abn 43 001 172 363
4. t Commission Against Corruption ICAC indicate the difficulty of the task at hand for the Expert Panel At the outset UDIA NSW believes that any wrongdoing uncovered by the ICAC with respect to developers and politicians should be the subject of the full force of the law Regardless of the merits of the law it was and remains the law and those that have knowingly broken the law should be prosecuted The current issues being exposed by ICAC have not occurred because there is a lack of laws relating to political donations they are the result of a lack of adherence to existing laws Increased penalties fines and better policing of political donations would have gone a way to deter such breaches We have reviewed the submissions provided to date along with the Discussion Papers that have been commissioned by the Expert Panel It would appear that there is little support for the public funding of election campaigns from a legal international experience and public perspective There seems to be substantial shifts in the distribution of political party finances from the move to complete public funding of election campaigns There is also a common theme regarding the constitutionality of introducing such laws We have concerns regarding the advantages conferred on incumbents from the complete public funding of election campaigns The issue of publically funded campaign via tax payer monies from an electoral acceptance viewpoint would also be debatable
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