Nathan Tinkler and Harry Triguboff are among property developers who stand accused of using Liberal party slush funds to sidestep the ban on property developers making political donations, The Australian Financial Review reports.
According to the newspaper, Geoffrey Watson, SC, has told the Independent Commission Against Corruption that he would give evidence of “systematic subversion of the electoral funding laws of NSW”.
Mr Watson said Mr Tinkler paid $66,000 and was one of many property developers, including Mr Triguboff, that paid over $200,000 to a company called EightByFive, run by Tim Koelma, a staffer of former energy minister Chris Hatcher.
The AFR reports that in exchange for the funds Mr Hatcher helped Mr Tinkler’s firm BuildDev bid to build a coal loader in Newcastle and Gazcorp’s bid to secure planning approval for a shopping centre in Sydney.