New Queensland laws overturning ban on property developer donations will ‘legalise another avenue of corruption’, Greens say | Queensland politics

Queensland’s Liberal National party government will lift a ban on property developer donations and quadruple the state’s limit on election donations after tabling new laws that the Greens claim will “legalise another form of corruption”.

Developers have been banned from donating to candidates and parties in state elections since a bill passed by Labor in 2018.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said the ban was a “fiscal gerrymander” because it did not apply to unions and that the LNP’s bill would “support freedom of expression”.

“This is an election commitment we made leading up to the election. There are no surprises here. We are doing exactly what we said we would do,” Frecklington said.

_{Sign up: AÜ Breaking News email}

“Unions, property developers and all other donors are on a level playing field. That’s what we’re doing now.”

Queensland currently caps donations per person or organization at $4,800 for political parties plus $7,200 for candidates, a total of $12,000 for each four-year parliamentary term.

The new law will quadruple the limit, effective each year; will allow donations of up to $19,200 per party and $28,800 to candidates over four years, for a total of $48,000. Frecklington said the new approach mirrored that used in the federal election and in New South Wales.

Frecklington said the change “will make it a lot easier for someone who wants to support a local candidate, say, in the first year of a four-year term, and allow them to donate again in the fourth year.”

The Guardian has previously reported that many developers have circumvented Labour’s ban through loopholes such as non-development companies but are controlled by people with property development interests. More than $500,000 was donated to the major parties before last year’s election, mostly to the LNP.

Greens MP Michael Berkman said the bill was “a blatant move by the Crisafulli LNP government to line its own pockets with developers’ donations and legalize another avenue of corruption in Queensland”.

“Allowing developer donations only benefits developers and the LNP, while everyone else is priced out of a safe house,” he said.

Berkman said the state government can make decisions that directly benefit developers. The legislation enabling the Olympics exempts games infrastructure, including housing development, from 15 laws, including the Heritage Act and Planning Act, giving a state authority the power to approve without the right of appeal.

“Such unrequited payments, in which the state will receive donations from contractors, [then] Make decisions that will directly benefit developers’ bottom lines, this just sucks and people need to see it for what it is, Berkman said.

Shadow attorney general Meaghan Scanlon said premier David Crisafulli “did not tell Queenslanders before the election that he planned to increase the donation cap”.

“At a time when there should be less money and influence in politics, the LNP is giving even more influence to the upper reaches of the city,” he said.

The legislation would also ban people serving sentences of one year or more in prison or detention from voting. Currently, only those serving sentences of three years or more are denied benefits.

Frecklington also announced the appointment of former Queensland police officer Deborah Platz as the state’s new human rights commissioner, replacing Scott McDougall, who has criticized both sides of politics on a range of issues, particularly the crackdown on the state’s youth law and order.

Frecklington said Platz was “a champion of those less fortunate than all of us.”