THE PRICE IN POLITICS
A$100,000 per candidate, and for parties allowed them to only spend a further A$50,000 in seats they contested.
The reforms introduced by the O’Farrell Government went further than those previously introduced. These key reforms introduced by Premier O’Farrell included making it unlawful for a political donation to a party, candidate or third-party campaigner to be accepted unless the donor was an individual who was enrolled to vote.
A further reform aggregated election expenditure for the purposes of the caps on electoral expenditure between related parties and their affiliated organisations. This measure effectively aggregated the expenditure of the Australian Labor Party and its affiliated unions. The High
Court subsequently ruled that this reform was invalid as it infringed the implied freedom of political communication in the Commonwealth Constitution. Whilst further reforms to electoral laws are likely to occur during the current term of Parliament by the Baird Government, those who have been the subject of restrictions have not been entirely quiescent. As has already been referred to, the High Court has already considered one challenge to the legislation when Unions NSW challenged the aggregation provisions of the legislation. Now a further challenge is in full swing with a property developer, pursuing the matter before the High Court. By way of background, Mr Jeff McCloy, a NSW property developer, gave donations totaling $31,500 to fund the election campaigns of
Liberal candidates ahead of the 2011 state election. This matter was investigated by the ICAC and Mr McCloy, who was also the Mayor of Newcastle, resigned amid the revelations of the illicit donations. He is now challenging the NSW Government’s political donation laws, arguing that they limit the right to free political communication and expression. Lawyers for Mr McCloy argued that property developers who donate to political parties to access politicians are no different to citizens who are not prohibited. They argued that the banning of donations by property developers unduly distorts the free flow of communication. Mr McCloy has also challenged the cap on individuals, who may only donate $5,800 per annum to political parties, as the result of the cap has the same outcome. The Court’s decision has
been reserved with a decision expected within weeks. In reality, the decision of the High Court is likely to shape the further reforms to donations laws, not just in New South Wales, but also the other States and possibly also the Commonwealth.
The Role of Lobbyists The Lobbying of Government Officials Act 2011 was introduced to combat perceived problems with lobbying in New South Wales.
Put simply, the capacity of lobbyists to gain access to politicians and senior public servants is demonstrative of one of the problems besetting modern politics.
The role of political lobbyists in New South Wales is the quintessential conundrum that is posed by the question of how
170 | The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Three
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