Labor leader Michael Daley did not disclose developer donations to his political campaigns when assessing multimillion-dollar development applications during his time at Randwick City Council despite council rules requiring councillors to do so.
Mr Daley, deputy mayor and a councillor from 1995 to 2008, even went so far as to repeatedly try to block and overturn donation disclosure rules after granting DAs for at times highly contentious projects to ALP donors.
Today’s revelation about Mr Daley’s history of accepting developer donations — and seeking to keep them secret — come as his bid to be the premier of NSW includes a campaign against overdevelopment in Sydney.
Not declaring developer donations is at odds with Randwick Council’s transparency rules and its anti-corruption Code of Conduct enshrined in law by the Carr government in January 2005 after ICAC scandals at other councils.
In one of three cases of impropriety uncovered, Mr Daley did not disclose his long-time campaign director, Ken Murray, was a director and president of the Randwick Labor Club at the time it sought approval for a $5 million development, while donating almost $500,000 to the ALP.
Mr Daley thanked Mr Murray in his maiden state parliament speech and he now works for the Labor leader as an electorate officer.
In another case, eastern suburbs developers Meck Developments and their affiliated companies donated $3000 to Mr Daley’s Maroubra by-election campaign just before polling day and $3000 to the 2004 ALP Randwick Council election ticket. It then had lucrative developments green-lit by the council, with Mr Daley supporting developments but not disclosing any conflict of interest.
In a third case, Mr Daley also did not declare any conflict when supporting a DA to redevelop Randwick’s Coach and Horses Hotel in February 2006, despite owners Argos Investments contributing $11,250 to his team running for council elections and $89,750 to the NSW ALP branch over a period of six years.
Mr Daley is also facing questions about whether he misled parliament over a DA granted for the home of jailed former Health Services Union boss, Michael Williamson. He previously told parliament he had only ever had “incidental” meetings with Williamson, but yesterday Mr Daley said he could not recall whether he had actually done a site visit to Mr Williamson’s home prior to the DA approva
its all so delicious... so corrupt LABOR>..
