SHOALHAVEN Greens councillor Amanda Findley has weighed into the political donations debate in a stinging rebuke to Kiama MP Gareth Ward.
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In a letter to the editor submitted to the Register on Monday morning, Cr Findley called on Mr Ward and South Coast MP Shelley Hancock to explain electoral funding returns that showed zero donations when donors attended fund-raising events and specified each of these candidates as recipients.
Cr Findley was responding to two earlier letters – one from Mark Corrigan from Vincentia and a response from Mr Ward.
“I was most shocked to read the vitriolic and inaccurate attack on Mr Corrigan by MLA Gareth Ward in your letters page. Even though Mr Ward’s response was quite typical by playing the man and not the issue the inaccuracies of his statement are in my opinion an assassination on Mr Corrigan’s character,” Cr Findley wrote.
“The question put to Mr Ward and to Mrs Hancock was simple. Why did you lodge electoral funding returns that showed zero donations when donors attended events and specified each of these candidates as the recipient of a donation.
“For Mr Ward to then cast doubt on the factuality of that statement beggar’s belief as the evidence exists within the NSW electoral funding register and Mr Ward and Mrs Hancock both know this.
“The second question was also simple - where did the other 93 per cent of funding for an $185,000 campaign in 2003 for Mrs Hancock come from? That shouldn’t be too hard to answer and the community has an absolute right to know.”
Cr Findley called on Mr Ward to disclose how his campaign was paid for and encourage Mrs Hancock to do the same.