Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli received prohibited developer donations

Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli has been found to have received prohibited developer donations for this year’s election campaign, after saying she had been “cleared” following an investigation.

Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli. Picture: Iwan Jones

Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli has been found to have received prohibited developer donations for this year’s election campaign, after earlier saying she had been “cleared” following an electoral commission investigation.

And her councillor husband Joe Natoli has been referred to the council watchdog for it to investigate potential misconduct after being caught up in the same probe.

Mr Natoli denied any wrongdoing while his wife said she was unaware she had been found to have received banned donations. The Electoral Commission of Queensland investigated the couple after a referral from the Crime and Corruption Commission.

It followed a complaint from Sunshine Coast retiree Geoff Lynch, an ally of former Wallabies coach John “Knuckles” Connolly, who stood unsuccessfully against Mr Natoli in the March council elections.

The complaint alleged the Natolis received thousands of dollars in donations from Sunshine Coast Indian community identity, orthodontist and alleged developer Vas Srinivasan, his wife and associates.

Joe and Rosanna Natoli.

The Srinivasans, who are not accused of any wrongdoing, have declined to comment.

Mr Lynch alleged the donations could be in breach of laws introduced by the former Palaszczuk government banning donations from developers.

Ms Natoli told The Courier-Mail this week she had been “cleared of any wrongdoing”, but in a letter to Mr Lynch’s lawyer, the commission said the complaint that Ms Natoli had received a prohibited donation had been “substantiated”.

It said both the mayor and the donor had taken “reasonable steps” to educate themselves about prohibited donor laws.

“The evidence available to the ECQ does not demonstrate any intent by any person to deliberately make unlawful donations,” the commission said.

It said Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen had taken “appropriate” compliance action against Ms Natoli under the Local Government Electoral Act, which including up to two years’ jail and a $64,520 fine for making or receiving prohibited donations.

The ECQ said it did not propose to take any further action against Mr Natoli following the CCC referral, but said it had referred him to the Office of the Independent Assessor, which investigates councillor conduct, because it considered other allegations in Mr Lynch’s CCC complaint “may, if proven, amount to misconduct”.

Mr Natoli said he had not received any correspondence from the ECQ.

“I am not concerned because I have declared the donation and I know there is no substance to this story,” he said.

Ms Natoli said she was “not aware” she had been found to have received prohibited donations. “I go back to that I’ve taken all reasonable steps, that’s what they told me,” she said.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli received prohibited developer donations