Developer donated $35,000 to council candidates as ‘Friends of the Peninsula’

A private company called Friends of the Peninsula, which is run by a property developer, donated more than $35,000 to candidates running for Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, including two who were elected and others who vowed not to take developer money during their campaigns.

Ariel Lakman, a co-director of residential development group Valli DM Pty Ltd, is listed as the sole director of private company Friends of the Peninsula Pty Ltd, which was registered one month before October’s Victorian council elections.

The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council building in Mornington.Credit: Joe Armao

According to campaign donation disclosure returns published by the council in late December, four candidates – including two who are now sitting councillors – received cash from Friends of the Peninsula for their campaigns.

The name “Friends of” is commonly used by localised environmental protection groups. The purpose of Friends of the Peninsula Pty Ltd is not listed in Australian Securities and Investment Commission documents, and the company has no online presence.

New councillors Cam Williams and Bruce Ranken received $5055 and $7136, respectively, from the company, while unsuccessful candidates Peter Clarke and Susan Bissinger received $14,066 and $8873, respectively.

One of the first acts of the freshly elected council in December was a vote to immediately abolish its affordable housing development contributions strategy and scheme, which some developers, although not Lakman, had publicly railed against. Ranken and Williams voted to scrap the scheme.

Freshly elected Mornington Peninsula councillors Bruce Ranken (left) and Cam Williams.

Clarke is a former state Liberal deputy president and powerbroker, a former City of Melbourne councillor and most recently mayor of Nillumbik Shire Council in Melbourne’s north. He runs a property development consultancy firm, Peter Clarke & Associates Consulting, and was once chairman of the state’s urban development authority until he was forced to stand down in August 2012 over a scandal involving the collapse of a retirement village investment trust.

Bissinger was a Mornington Peninsula councillor until the recent election.

Both Clarke and Bissinger committed publicly via a candidate survey published by activist ratepayer group Council Watch that they would not take developer donations. Clarke also told the Committee for Mornington Peninsula and Frankston website before the election that he was “funding his own campaign”.

Ranken served at Nillumbik Shire Council alongside Clarke before both men ran at the most recent election for the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. Ranken, also a former Liberal Party member, listed integrity as one of his top three priorities in a council candidate survey run and published by The Age.

Unsuccesful candidates Peter Clarke (left) and Susan Bissinger.

Unlike NSW, in Victoria there are no laws preventing property developer donations at either council or state elections, or preventing developers from using a company or entity as a fundraising vehicle. In Victoria, the public is unable to see who may have contributed to a fund, or the directors or office bearers of an entity.

All donations of cash or services of more than $500 in value must be declared, but only 40 days after the election.

Valli director Ariel “Ari” Lakman, the sole director of Friends of the Peninsula Pty Ltd.Credit: Valli

Lakman is the co-director of the privately owned property group Valli, which is backed by major developer and rich lister Andrew Buxton of the $17 billion development giant MAB Corporation. Lakman is married to Lisa Annabelle Buxton, a fellow director of Valli.

Valli Group is behind residential and mixed-use projects in Collingwood, Brunswick East and East Melbourne. The group has made no public plans on the Mornington Peninsula.

Lakman did not respond to questions from The Age about the donations.

Ranken said in a written response to The Age the $7136 he received was “specifically for election material, which are NOT tied to any conditions of expectations and will not ever impact they way I represent the community with integrity”.

Williams told The Age in a written statement that Lakman was his friend, and that if any planning applications from his business came before the council he would declare a conflict of interest.

“I have know [sic] Ari for over a decade, and I was very thankful for his support towards me and my campaign, so he wasn’t a ‘stranger’ that wanted to back me, he is a friend,” he said.

But Clarke, who received the largest donation of more than $14,000, said he had “never met, spoken to or had any contact” with Lakman and was “unaware of Valli development group”.

“I fully funded my campaign during and up until and after the election was determined,” he said.

“I only received financial support after the election was declared and I had lost.”

Bissinger also said she did not know who Lakman was when contacted by The Age.

“I do not know the make-up of the Friends of the Peninsula group or who Ari Lakman is, but it really doesn’t matter, as anyone who wanted to influence my vote would have to make it known,” she said.

The former councillor also posted recently on the Mornington Peninsula Council Watch Facebook page that she “gratefully accepted” the donation after considering it “for a while”.

“I am not able to be bribed … ever. Nothing was expected of me, I am what I am and they must thought that was good for the shire,” she said in another post to a resident.

When contacted by The Age, Bissinger did not clarify who the “they” she referred to in the Facebook post was.

“As you would be aware, local government candidates are able to accept donations toward their campaign, as long as they declare where they come from, and should the circumstance arise that the donor is involved in any decision put before the councillor, that councillor is compelled to declare a conflict of interest,” she said.

Separate statements from Bissinger, Ranken and Clarke all included the same line: “I have fully complied with all requirements of the local government act regarding donations.” Williams’ statement said: “In regards to my campaign, I have fully complied with all my obligations in accordance with the VEC, under the LG Act, in regards to all donations I received for my campaign.”

Local government activist Dean Hurlston, the president of Council Watch, said his organisation wanted to see donations from developers banned.

“We [also] want reform so that companies, associations and ‘entities’ cannot donate without the candidate having to declare the directors and people also behind it,” Hurlston said.

In August 2023, the previously elected Mornington Peninsula council passed a motion asking the state government to consider a complete ban on political donations from property developers put forward by current councillor David Gill.

Asked about Valli DM Pty Ltd, a council spokeswoman said an “initial search of our records indicates that there are no pending or previous planning applications with council from this entity”.

She said it was not possible to tell whether any applications were indirectly linked to these individuals, and that councillors are not informed of the directors of development companies when assessing a planning application.

Mayor Anthony Marsh said in a statement: “Regardless of any declared gifts received during the election period, councillors must declare all conflicts of interest as they arise and remove themselves from the decision-making process.”

Contact the journalist securely: [e-mail]

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.