Late-night council meeting bans developer donations
Candidates running for the City of Melbourne council will be banned from accepting donations from developers or the gambling industry, after a motion was narrowly passed on Tuesday night.
Victoria
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City of Melbourne election candidates would not accept donations from developers or the gambling and tobacco industries under a motion narrowly passed by a council meeting on Tuesday evening.
Several councillors, including Lord Mayor Sally Capp, abstained from the vote.
The meeting also passed a motion that candidates for the October elections voluntarily disclose during the campaign companies they are directors of, or have a financial interest in.
The first motion by councillor Jackie Watts said that councillor conflicts of interest due to campaign donations sometimes lead to meeting issues not being discussed due to a loss of quorum.
“Not only do such donations impair the proper functioning of council but also they erode public confidence in the electoral system,” her motion said.
Ms Watts’ motion said the investigation of alleged corrupt dealings at the City of Casey highlighted how people could be “improperly influenced through donations, gifts, pro bono services or other hospitality and other forms of payment”.
The motion called for candidates to voluntarily disclose any donation or in-kind gift within five business days of receiving it.
Both motions were passed 6-5 and those supporting Ms Watts were Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood and councillors Beverley Pinder, Susan Riley, Rohan Leppert and Cathy Oke.
No one voted against the motions, but those abstaining were Lord Mayor Sally Capp and councillors Nicholas Reece, Kevin Louey, Philip Le Liu and Nicolas Frances Gilley.
Some of those abstaining argued that since the disclosures would be voluntary, any information published could be haphazard and the process could be abused by certain candidates.
Mr Reece said that the council already had a robust register of councillors’ interests, and the motion requiring disclosure of all financial interests during a campaign could deter good people from running for office.
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