Democracy for Sale

The Sydney City Council elections attach many large donations from major companies, especially those involved in the property industry.  As various property developers have said, it is important to have access to those in power in order to lobby for their businesses.

In the 1999 Sydney Council election the main contenders for the Lord Mayoral position and control of the council were Frank Sartor’s Living Sydney and the Sydney Alliance led by Kathryn Greiner.  Those two groups and the Labor Party raised over $1.4 million dollars from donations for the election. 

As you can see the amount of money raised by the political parties and groups of candidates that won seats in Sydney Council in the 2004 election was much less.  However, when the successful fundraising of the independents such as Peter Collins and Dixie Coulton is added to these figures, the amount of money contributed by donors exceeds half a million dollars.