Business funds Labor campaign
Newcastle Greens
13 October 2006
Business interests funding Labor campaign
The Newcastle Greens candidate for the state seat of Newcastle, Cr Michael Osborne, today said that business interests would be funding Labor’s $100,000 Newcastle election campaign war-chest revealed in the local media today.
“Local people are understandably shocked at this amount, but they should realise that it represents a tiny proportion of the amount donated to the ALP by vested interests,” Cr Osborne said.
“For example, the most recent official electoral returns (for 2004/2005) show that the NSW ALP received $7,673,820.00 in political donations, including large sums from organisations involved in the hotel industry, the gambling industry, resource companies, pharmaceutical companies, and property developers.
“To place this in perspective, the $100,000 that they are intending to allocate to their Newcastle seat campaign represents only 1.3% of the amount they collected from vested interest donors in 2004/2005.
“The fact that the ALP’s right wing Sydney power-brokers feel they have to spend this much on their campaign to win the formerly safe Labor seat of Newcastle is certainly evidence of their desperation.
“But even more important than the question of why the Sydney power-brokers are allocating such a huge amount to their Newcastle campaign is the question, ‘what do those who are financing this campaign expect in return from Labor and from Jodi McKay?’.
“From this perspective, it should surprise no one that the ALP’s Sydney power-brokers were prepared to parachute in a candidate whose affiliations are with the business community, rather than with local grassroots members.
“What other dividends will the ALP’s vested interest donors expect in return for their investment in the Newcastle campaign?” Cr Osborne asked.
“Unlike the two big parties, The Greens do not accept donations from vested interest sources, and are financially beholden to no one,” he said.
“I and other Greens candidates will be vigorously campaigning against the corrupting influence of donations on the political process throughout this state election campaign.”
The figures quoted here are from The Greens Democracy4Sale website, which are based on official electoral funding returns.
