Thirteen Australian corporations failed to declare their political donations when applying to planning authorities for infrastructure and property projects in the most populous state of New South Wales (NSW), The Guardian reported, citing the results of its own investigation
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th October, 2019) Thirteen Australian corporations failed to declare their political donations when applying to planning authorities for infrastructure and property projects in the most populous state of New South Wales (NSW), The Guardian reported, citing the results of its own investigation.
According to the newspaper's Sunday report, among the companies that have made undeclared donations above 1,000 Australian Dollars ($670), a criminal offense in New South Wales, are Woolworths, Caltex, Origin Energy, AMP and Incitec Pivot.
They supposedly did declare their significant donations to the Liberal and Labor parties to the Electoral Commission but failed to report them to the planning authorities.
The media revelations have already triggered investigations into the alleged illegal activity.
Reacting to the scandal, supermarket chain Woolworths, which is suspected of failing to declare over 100,000 Australian dollars in donations to the NSW Liberals and Nationals, has admitted an "error" on its part.
"While we fully disclosed historical political donations to the NSW Electoral Commission as required, it would appear that parts of our business which manage planning applications were regrettably not aware of these disclosures," Woolworths told the newspaper.
Transparency International Australia, in turn, has reportedly said that these failures to declare donations are "fundamentally bad for our democracy," with its chief executive, Serena Lillywhite, claiming that "lobbying and undue influence" have become "increasingly" common in the country's political landscape.
