NSW: Fairies and pots of gold at Tweed Council inquiry

AAP General News (Australia)
02-17-2005
NSW: Fairies and pots of gold at Tweed Council inquiry

By Dale Paget

TWEED HEADS, NSW, Feb 17 AAP - Tweed Shire councillors who think developers expect
nothing in return for election donations also believe in fairies, a former mayor told
an independent inquiry today.

A controversial election fund was referred to as a "pot of gold" and questions were
raised over the amount of business conducted in private as the public hearings continued
into whether developers have undue influence over Tweed Shire Council.

A 40-year veteran of the council who served 13 terms as mayor and president, Councillor
Max Boyd told the inquiry he refused donations because he did not want to be in the debt
of developers.

"If you believe that business people do this for nothing. If you believe that, you've
got to believe in fairies at the bottom of the garden," he said.

The inquiry, headed by commissioner Maurice Daly, opened sittings in Tweed Heads this
week into allegations the far northern NSW council was improperly influenced by developers
involved in a current $5 billion coastal property boom.

A lobby group, Tweed Directions, raised $340,000 from developers to fund advertising
and election campaigns for selected councillors at the 2004 poll.

Six pro-development councillors were elected and hold the majority in council.

In submissions to the inquiry, Mr Boyd said developer Metricon was a $20,000 donor
and was seeking approval for a shopping centre and residential development in the shire.

Pro-development councillor and deputy mayor Lynne Beck admitted laying out a welcome
mat for developers in recent years to encourage investment and job creation.

She met weekly with Tweed Directions' founders, developer Allan Blundell and Gold Coast
public relations consultant Graham Staerk, but said she had no idea where the donated
money came from and that there were no expectations.

"It was just a pot of gold?" asked officer assisting the inquiry, Angus Broad.

"Or the goose that laid the golden egg," replied Ms Beck.

The councillor and her pro development team received $22,050 from Tweed Directions
for the 2004 campaign.

Mr Boyd rejected the notion that councillors were unaware of the source of the donations.

AAP dp/sc/evt/jlw

KEYWORD: TWEED

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