Councillor Chris Harris

Clover Moore has partially denied information posted on this site about the sources of her campaign funding.

In response, the following letter was published in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph. It was written by Dr Norman Thompson, director, NSW Greens political donations research project. All the information is sourced from declarations lodged with the NSW Electoral Commission.

Where the cash comes from

I was surprised to read the priorities of the independents if they hold the balance of power after the election (“Independents plan for power”, ST 11/3).

Many said they would ban donations from property developers - a most worthy goal, considering the role those donations have played in watering down planning laws and expediting the approval of atrocious developments in our State.

Yet many current independents accepted developer donations in their last campaign for parliament.

Clover Moore, who has long spoken out about the need to ban developer donations, received almost half her campaign money from Living Sydney (the political group led by Frank Sartor and Lucy Turnbull) in her race for the lord mayoralty.

Living Sydney, in turn, has received thousands of dollars in donations from big property developers.

Rather than electing a band of diverse independents, it would be better to vote for the more principled Greens.

At least the NSW Greens have a firm policy of not accepting corporate donations, especially from the property industry.

Norman Thompson
Darlinghurst