CCC chairman defends scope of proposed donations ban
QUEENSLAND Crime and Corruption Commission chairman Alan MacSporran has hit back at critics who want his proposed ban on developer donations to state and local government candidates extended to include unions.
A CCC report released on Wednesday made 31 recommendations to overhaul local government rules following the commission's investigation into the Ipswich, Gold Coast, Moreton Bay and Logan councils.
The Queensland Opposition and the Property Council both responded that unions should be included in any donation ban, but Mr MacSporran told ABC Radio yesterday: "What we've done is to address a very real and present corruption risk, which is a far greater evil than any tilting collaterally of the balance of power in that sense.
"It's an unarguable proposition that developers have undue influence in the political process and they should be banned from having such.”
The Queensland Government has promised to implement the developer donation ban for state and local candidates.
In releasing the report, Mr MacSporran said local government was "certainly at the very least a hotbed for perceived corruption”.
