Cate Faehrmann, Sydney
Greens NSW upper-house MP Lee Rhiannon has described the state Labor government's forced closure of a factory outlet in the south-west Sydney suburb of Liverpool, which will benefit a nearby Westfield shopping complex, as a gift from Premier Bob Carr to ALP federal leader Mark Latham's election campaign.
The Greens research project on political donations has revealed that Westfield, along with its CEO Frank Lowy, is the single biggest corporate donor to the federal Labor Party.
"In this federal election year the major parties will run very expensive campaigns", said Rhiannon. "Donations the size of Westfield's CEO Frank Lowy's could buy a considerable amount of advertising space for federal Labor. From 1998 to 2002, records indicate that Westfield and its subsidiaries gave at least $641,000 to the federal ALP and just under $200,000 to NSW Labor."
"Of course Premier Bob Carr will vehemently deny that donations from corporations hold any sway on the decisions made by his government", Rhiannon said.
"If decisions are made by the government of the day benefiting a big corporate donor like Westfield, while leaving 450 people out of a job, then the public has the right to feel duped and more than a little suspicious."
Rhiannon said that if the Carr government had acted to help Westfield, "then some tough questions need to be asked of the premier, starting with how much Westfield and Mr Lowy have donated in this election year alone".
"The period just before an election", she added, "is when donations to the two major parties really hot up, yet voters won't have any idea of what companies are giving and of how much they're giving to well after election day."
From Green Left Weekly, July 21, 2004.
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