Source The Age: Melissa Fyfe and Royce Millar
February 14, 2013
EXCLUSIVE
LORD mayor Robert Doyle received tens of thousands of dollars
from donors connected to a property developer with big plans for
Melbourne's skyline, yet the official donation list obscures the
businessman's links to raising money for Cr Doyle's re-election
campaign.
A Fairfax Media investigation of Team Doyle's campaign
funding has thrown doubt on a number of donors and revealed apparent
breaches of the Local Government Act, with the official donation list
containing misleading information, wrong names, wrong addresses and the
non-disclosure of the members of a trust.
One of Victoria's most experienced local government lawyers,
Terry Bramham, described the Team Doyle official list, or return, as
''curious''.
''You have a number of individuals from far-flung places with
no clear connection to the City of Melbourne making substantial
donations,'' said Mr Bramham, of Macquarie Lawyers. ''Why would they be
doing that?''
Mr Bramham said the questions raised by Fairfax Media were
sufficient to justify an official investigation into city council
campaign funding last year.
The most notable transparency problem is the connection
between Chinese-born Jeff Xu - a developer and entrepreneur who has
pushed for the fast-tracking of high-density development in Melbourne -
and donors named Yif Yufu and Amy Meng Li.
Neither Mr Xu nor the companies he is publicly associated
with are listed on the official return. The five Team Doyle councillors
would therefore be unlikely to declare a conflict of interest when
voting on applications from his many city business interests.
But Fairfax Media has found that although Yif Yufu appears to
be a person, the actual donor of $15,000 to Cr Doyle was Australian
Yifu Investment Development Pty Ltd, which Mr Xu part-owns through his
company J. Xu Nominees.
Amy Meng Li, who lives in Maribyrnong and confirmed to
Fairfax Media that she has no other business interests in the city, gave
$8000 to Cr Doyle. She is an accountant for Dahu Nominees, of which Mr
Xu is sole director and only shareholder. Ms Li said her donation to Cr
Doyle was an individual decision, not on behalf of Dahu. She refused to
comment further.
Last year Fairfax Media revealed a property developer's
claims that Cr Doyle's No.1 council candidate, Kevin Louey, had asked
developers for tens of thousands of dollars in donations in return for
access to Town Hall. In the wake of these articles, Mr Xu denied being
asked to donate to the Doyle campaign or having promised financial
support. The cash-for-access claims are being investigated by the Local
Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate.
Mr Xu on Wednesday refused to comment when asked if he had donated to city council candidates.
The Fairfax Media investigation also found:
■Thousands of dollars were donated by people living in modest
flats in Clayton South, Chadstone, Box Hill and Maribyrnong with no
obvious link to the City of Melbourne.
■Donations to Team Doyle from the property industry were more
than half - $200,000 - of Cr Doyle's $380,000 declared re-election war
chest.
■Despite legal requirements to name the trustees of any
donating trust, Team Doyle failed to name the trustees of the
Sydney-based Heng Xing Family Trust, which donated $20,000. Council
candidates who received this money could be penalised as much as
$40,000.
■Team Doyle member Kevin Louey's return listed the Guangdong
Association of Australia as donating $1000. But the Guangdong
Association of Australia Inc has confirmed it did not donate. The
Guangdong Overseas Friendship Association of Australia's secretary, Tony
(Yuan Hui) Du, said a member, a woman friendly with Mr Louey, had
wanted to hide her donation from her husband. ''She asked if she could
use the name of the association,'' said Mr Du.
■Donor David Ting, who gave $2500 to Team Doyle, does not live at the Box Hill address provided on the return.
■Accountant Jian (Ken) Huang and his wife, Samantha To, are
listed as contributing $5000. But Mr Huang said he believed their
donation was actually $10,000.
Mr Xu is building a Sheraton hotel in Little Collins Street
and the Emerald apartments in South Melbourne. He owns the Rainbow
entertainment complex in Bourke Street and has an interest in a string
of central city restaurants.
In its previous term, the Doyle council supported the
32-level Sheraton project and an extension of Mr Xu's karaoke club's
licensing hours from 1 am to 4am. The extension was granted despite a
ban on new liquor licences in the city beyond 1am.
Confidential minutes from an internal licensing committee
reveals that throughout 2012 Cr Louey attended meetings - not usually
attended by councillors - at which Mr Xu's licensing application was
considered.
In December Fairfax Media reported that the city council
could be denied a say on key city building projects, with a majority of
councillors conflicted by donations from active developers.
Cr Doyle spoke to Fairfax Media on Wednesday on several
occasions, criticising decisions by Planning Minister Matthew Guy, but
did not return numerous calls for this story.
Cr Louey told Fairfax Media that the name Yif Yufu did not
''ring a bell'', nor did he know David Ting. Cr Louey then ended the
interview. Team Doyle councillor Arron Wood said he did not know any of
the donors. Team Doyle councillors Beverley Pinder and Susan Riley did
not return calls.
