Mark McGowan backer Nigel Satterley a big subsidies recipient

Billionaire property developer Nigel Satterley is a big beneficiary of Western Australia’s generous housing subsidies, an analysis of data shows.

Perth property developer Nigel Satterley. Picture: Colin Murty

The billionaire property developer and card-carrying Liberal who has thrown his support behind Mark McGowan’s Labor government has been a big beneficiary of the state’s generous housing subsidies, an analysis of data shows.

Information from Western Australia’s Department of Treasury shows Nigel Satterley’s Satterley Group owns property developments in five of the 19 suburbs with the highest number of granted subsidies under WA’s Building Bonus scheme.

While donations by property developers are banned in some states, Mr Satterley is an ­active player in WA politics and has been increasingly vocal in his support for Mr McGowan and his disdain for Liberal Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup.

His political advocacy has again focused public attention on the influence — perceived or otherwise — of the “big end of town” on politics in WA, a state famous for its entrepreneurs and business titans as well as the scars from the WA Inc era of the 1980s.

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Satterley confirmed his business had experienced a surge in demand since the introduction of WA’s $20,000 building bonus and the federal government’s $25,000 Home Builder grant but said that should not be seen as a conflict of interest with his political advocacy.

“It’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs,” Mr Satterley said. “The state government and the federal government saved our industry from going to the cliff … It’s helped a struggling retail sector as people buy new furniture, it has had a huge multiplier effect.”

The number of employees and contractors on the books of his namesake group had trebled over the past year, he said, as the grants triggered a wave of investment.

Treasury data shows that of 304 different suburbs and towns to have received WA’s building bonus to date, several of the suburbs in which Mr Satterley’s namesake group owns estates have been among the most prolific recipients.

Madora Bay and Jindalie, each with 19 paid bonuses to date, rank as the equal 10th-most frequent recipients for the government subsidy, while Byford, Harrisdale and Eglinton also sit within the top 20 most prolific beneficiaries of the scheme.

 

All five suburbs are home to Satterley estates.

The total number of paid grants under the scheme is set to grow substantially in the months ahead as works progress and more properties reach the milestone to receive the payment. Just 6 per cent of applications had been paid out as of last month.

Mr Satterley said most policy matters in the property sector were thrashed out by governments and industry peak bodies, rather than through individual developers such as himself.

He said his political advocacy stemmed from his concerns about the undue influence of third parties within the WA ­Liberal Party.

Conservative powerbrokers Peter Collier and Nick Goiran ­exercise excessive control over the party’s preselection process, he said, which had led to an influx of religious conservatives and a dearth of emerging talent among Liberal candidates.

“Most people who follow politics know that the best candidates can’t get preselected at the state level,” he said.

“This is about exposing the problems that those two characters have left the party in.”

Mr Satterley’s support for Mr McGowan has extended to his company’s sponsorship of an upcoming $1500 a head dinner at Perth’s Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is expected to raise about $300,000 for the Labor Party.

It’s the fourth straight year he has supported the dinner, and he has sponsored similar events in recent years for Scott Morrison.

Mr Satterley’s insertion into the campaign sits uneasily with Paul Everingham, chief executive of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA, a former lobbyist and a former executive director of the WA Liberal Party.

He told The Australian that Mr Satterley’s commentaries and reports about the lavish fundraising dinner would cast a cloud over the way the public believed the business sector interacted with government in WA.

“It’s certainly not how I would behave, and it doesn’t represent the wider West Australian business community,” Mr Everingham said. “I’ve always felt a little bit of humility and dignity goes a long way.”

Political donations by property developers were banned in NSW and Queensland years ago, and breaches can lead to jail time. WA’s political donation ­disclosure system remains comparatively open, with efforts to tighten the rules through an ­electoral amendment bill stalling in the state’s upper house last year.