Di Bain has challenged her opponents to disclose their conflicts after it was revealed her lord mayoral campaign had received more than $100,000 in contributions.
Di Bain has challenged her opponents to disclose their conflicts after it was revealed her lord mayoral campaign had received more than $100,000 in contributions.
That’s per the City of Perth’s electoral gift register, released on Saturday, which lists Ms Bain’s lord mayoral campaign as having received more than ten times as much as any other candidate for the October 17 poll.
Ms Bain received contributions from at least 25 different individuals.
The largest individual contributor to her campaign was Eagle Mountain Mining managing director Charlie Bass, who donated $10,000.
Mr Bass has previously made sizable contributions to the Liberal Party WA.
Other major contributors to Ms Bain’s campaign include Crown Resorts chief executive Barry Felstead, Linc Property director and co-founder Ben Lisle, Austal chair John Rothwell and Resolute Mining managing director John Welborn.
Asked to respond to those who were critical of her receipt of campaign contributions, Ms Bain told Business News that residents and businesses had told her they were worried with the influence Seven West Media had on the race.
“All candidates should be scrutinised equally,” she said.
“That’s just not happening.”
Subsequently, she said many of the contributions had been made because residents and businesspeople wanted to help her build her campaign's visibilty.
She explained that she had told all donors to her campaign that she was an independent candidate, and that she would declare all contributions for the sake of transparency.
“The City of Perth council code of conduct around the declaration of gifts is not a precise science,” she said.
“You can skirt around the rules.
“There’s no audit, there’s no requirements for you to show your campaign spending requirement, there’s no Australian Tax Office audit, nothing.
“It’s an honour system, so you can get around the honour system.
“I have done the opposite; I haven’t tried to get around it.
“I haven’t tried to be secretive; I haven’t tried to hide things, because I think it’s the right thing to do to be open and honest, and it’s all about restoring trust and knowing that if I’m there, there are things that I have which are my interests and they need to be managed.
“There is a big supporter base for me.
“Some of them are property developers; there are also philanthropists, there are also businesspeople, there are also residents.
“They want a mayor that is independent, and they’re worried.”
Asked to give a breakdown of where the funds had been spent, she said the donations had gone towards building her campaign’s visibility, with $19,000 funding the cost of sending mailers to electors.
She also pointed out that about $37,000 of contributions came from in-kind support, courtesy of CGM Communications.
CGM Communications has worked with Ms Bain throughout the campaign, and has previously been associated with progressive campaigns in support of labour unions, voluntary assisted dying and LGBTQi rights.
Ms Bain said the firm had spent a considerable amount of time dealing with media requests in that time.
Asked to comment on media coverage of her campaign and her having received donations, Ms Bain was critical of Seven West Media and its coverage of Channel 7 presenter Basil Zempilas’ campaign.
Mr Zempilas is an employee of Seven West Media and is thought to enjoy a close relationship with chair Kerry Stokes.
“All I can say is that … I’ve been repeatedly targeted by the newspaper (The West Australian), and I will continue to be the target until and unless their candidate can get up,” she said.
Elsewhere on the ballot, former City of Bayswater councillor Brent Fleeton is the only candidate solely running for council to declare any donations in this election cycle, having received declared contributions of more than $10,000.
His largest contribution came courtesy of Boston Consulting Group project leader Richard Wilson, who is listed as donating $3,000 to Mr Fleeton’s campaign.
Mr Fleeton said he had declared all contributions as required, and that the only donor with whom he enjoyed a professional relationship was Neil Irvine, who owned East Perth venue Beaumont on the Point.
Mr Irvine donated $1,000 to Mr Fleeton's campaign.
Mr Fleeton said he would recuse himself of any matters concerning Mr Irvine if elected to council.
He said the remaining contributions had come from friends who supported his policies, and that the discourse had to be elevated to recognise the need for campaigns to receive financial contributions.
“Not everyone has a state-based media organisation backing you,” Mr Fleeton told Business News.
“I do need to ask for support from my network to help me on my campaign, and I’m not ashamed of that.”
Spacecubed founder and managing director Brodie McCulloch and Mr Zempilas were the only other candidates to have declared receiving a gift so far.
Mr Zempilas received $1,800 of in-kind creative services and content production from Dixie Marshall, who is currently head of Flare BBDO.
Ms Marshall was also an adviser to former Premier Colin Barnett between 2011 and 2017.
Mr McCulloch’s single contribution came from Spacecubed general manager Chandra Sundareswaran, who is listed as donating $7,500 worth of in-kind support through providing office, meeting and event space for the campaign.
Retired magistrate Tim Schwass, lawyer and architect Sandy Anghie, journalist and presenter Mark Gibson and local businessman Bruce Reynolds have declared no campaign contributions so far.
Anghie, Reynolds not aware of Zempilas ad
Elsewhere over the weekend, Mr Zempilas’ campaign released an advertisement published in The Perth Voice that appeared to tacitly endorse Mr Reynolds and Ms Anghie’s campaigns for council.
The advertisement instructs voters to place eight ticks on the council ballot, and prominently features bolded titles and photographs of Gary Mitchell, Clyde Bevan and Catherine Lezer.
Those three candidates have endorsed Mr Zempilas’ lord mayoral campaign, and have in turn received his endorsement for their council bids.
The advertisement also features a tick against Mr Reynolds and Ms Anghie’s name, alongside three other candidates running for council: Rebecca Gordon, Viktor Ko, Charles Davidson.
Mr Reynolds and Ms Anghie both told Business News they were not aware of the advertisement or what strategy Mr Zempilas was pursuing.
Ms Anghie said she was an independent and Mr Zempilas’ competitor in the lord mayoral race.
Mr Reynolds said he was fully independent, both politically and financially.
Neither candidate has endorsed Mr Zempilas’ lord mayoral campaign.
In response, Mr Zempilas told Business News that the markings were indicative of the process only.
“I am supporting Gary Mitchell, Catherine Lezer and Clyde Bevan in their candidacy for council," he said.
"I haven’t endorsed other council candidates but indicatively, in response to many requests from voters, have shown how to correctly vote for eight councillors in the council ballot.
"In different versions of my literature there are different names ticked.
"It is indicative of the process only.
"It is important voters are shown how to cast a formal vote, especially when many have never voted in a local government election before, which is quite different to state or federal voting."
