The Greens have spent Thursday in Parliament accusing the state government of “corruption” over the approval of the Stony Rise Village development in Devonport.
The controversy centres on the government’s decision to override the Tasmanian Planning Commission’s (TPC) previous rejection of the new shopping centre through a special bill, a move the Greens strongly opposed.
Leader Rosalie Woodruff claimed developer Tipalea Partners had made donations to the Liberal Party for approval, an allegation Premier Jeremy Rockliff had previously refused to answer.
“It’s a pretty clear picture. Developer wants something, developer donates money to the Liberals, developers get what they want. Quid pro quo,” she said.
“This looks like corruption, it sounds like corruption and it stinks like corruption.”
Her claims followed comments from Murchison MLC Ruth Forrest, who told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that Tipalea CEO Scott Spanton confirmed to her he had made previous donations to the Liberals.
“We know that political donations are made for a purpose. We know that property developers can be notorious in this space,” Forrest said.
“I’m not suggesting this of Tipalea Partners, but it is a risk. It is a risk when we’re bringing forward legislation to approve a project from a developer who has made political donations.”
On Thursday, Rockliff vehemently denied the accusations of corruption, pointing out that both independent and Labor members supported the bill.
“Are you having the same accusation at my opposite numbers? At Independents in the Legislative Council? Are you serious? Quite frankly, I thought better of you,” he told Woodruff.
“Just because you didn’t get your way, it doesn’t mean the rest of the Parliament is corrupt. So I utterly reject the inference on behalf of our team.”
Spanton has since confirmed he has made “small donations” in the past, describing them as primarily contributions to business networking events.
“Until it’s illegal to do so, we will continue to provide support for our political system,” he wrote online.
