NSW premier Mike Baird has denied any intention to water down bans on property developer donations.
The NSW government is reviewing the effectiveness of bans on donations from prohibited donors, including property developers and the alcohol, tobacco and gambling industries.
The government is intending to change electoral laws at least 12 months before the 2019 election, and confirmed it was reviewing the effectiveness of the bans just before Christmas, in its formal response to a parliamentary committee.
Asked to rule out removing the ban, Baird said: “That’s my expectation, it will stay as it is,” he said. “Obviously we want to get to a position where there is as little influence as possible. That’s been my position all along.”
Baird said he did not expect the laws to be weakened.
In June, the NSW joint standing committee on electoral matters recommended the government consider the effectiveness of prohibited donor provisions as part of a more comprehensive review of the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act.
The committee’s recommendation followed the findings of an expert panel, led by former Sydney Water chief executive Kerry Schott, which said the donor bans should be kept in place, pending a high court challenge to their validity, and the introduction of caps on political donations for local government.
The high court challenge failed, and a bill capping political donations for local government was introduced in June.
The government’s formal response to the committee’s recommendation said: “The government will consider whether the policy objectives of the prohibited donor provisions are still valid in light of these developments.”
