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Media Releases |
Media Release - Minister's Office Sydney: 12 September 2008 NEW LAWS INCREASE THE TRANSPARENCY OF NSW PLANNING PROCESS State Plan Goal S8: Increased Customer Satisfaction with Government Services
NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally announced today that new laws requiring the disclosure of political donations and gifts when lodging or commenting on a development proposal will come into force from 1 October 2008. “These new laws will deliver increased confidence in the transparency of the development assessment process in NSW,” Ms Keneally said. “The introduction of this important new legislation is a major step forward, delivering a higher level of accountability from those making political donations and forms part of the Government’s ongoing political donations reform agenda. “Anyone lodging or commenting on a development proposal will be required to disclose any political donations or gifts they have made in the two years preceding the application. “It will allow the public to know whether developers were also donors at the time a proposal was being assessed either by a council or the Rees Government.” Ms Keneally said the new laws will cover the following types of proposals: • Development applications; • Formal requests to the Minister, a council or the Director-General of the Department of Planning to initiate the making of an environmental planning instrument or development control plan; • Formal requests to the Minister or the Director-General for development of a particular site to be made State significant or to be declared a Part 3A project under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act; and • Applications for approval of a concept plan or project (or a modification) under Part 3A. Ms Keneally said the new laws will impose disclosure obligations on applicants, whether individuals or entities, with a financial interest in these types of proposals.
“The applicant must also disclose donations of $1,000 or more made to or for the benefit of a political party, an elected member or a group of candidates within two years before the application or submission is made,” she said. “The disclosure requirements continue to apply until the application is determined. “A person making an application to a council must also disclose gifts to employees of that council,” she said. Both the Department of Planning and councils will have responsibilities to make these disclosures publicly-available, either on the internet or under arrangements posted on the internet, within 14 days of the disclosure being made. Councils are also required to keep a register, available to the public, of the voting record of councillors on all development applications. Further details are available from the Department of Planning website at www.planning.nsw.gov.au/donations
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