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PROPERTY developers slashed donations to the major state political parties by 40 per cent last year as they mothballed acres of new projects.
In the 12 months to June last year, property developers donated about $1.7 million to the state branches of the ALP and Liberal parties, down from $2.9million a year earlier.
Housing Industry Association senior economist Harley Dale said the value of development residential site sales had fallen 43 per cent in the same period.
"I would suspect there is a direct link here between the figures and the levels of donations because your very earliest indicator for first-home activity is site sales," Mr Dale said.
The major political parties in NSW and Queensland received the lion's share of support from property developers.
In the year to June, $880,000 was donated to the ALP and Liberal parties in NSW and Queensland, compared to a total of $1.7 million donated to the state branches of both parties across the nation.
The Queensland Greens said the correlation between site sales and developer donations again raised question marks over the appropriateness of political donations by corporates.
"The failure to rein in developer donations and developer influence on local governments has been really distressing," a Greens spokeswoman said.
"It is good that developer donations have almost halved, but the Greens have been calling for an overhaul of the whole process because it still has the appearance of undue influence by corporate interests."
Prominent property analyst Michael Matusik of Matusik Property Insights said the slump in donations probably represented the ongoing frustration of developers over strict planning laws and the dominance of the ALP at the state government level.
"Traditionally it is the Liberal or coalition governments who usually receive more funding from developers than Labor governments," Mr Matusik said.
"The development industry is ... at loggerheads with all forms of government, particularly at the state and local government level, because they see planning laws stacked against them.
"Developers have said 'we have been sponsoring you, donating, for years, and whilst we don't expect you to do everything we say, you are not helping us, so what is the point?"' Mr Matusik said.
Recent inquiries into developer donations to local councils on the Gold Coast and in Wollongong in NSW had also drawn attention to the issue, and this had probably made developers reluctant to open their wallets, he said. "There has been a lot of talk about what is an appropriate level for a donation."
In the year to June, Brisbane-based developer Consolidated Properties led developer donations in Queensland, giving $91,300 to the ALP.
In NSW, Walker Group Holdings led the way, stumping up $200,000 for the state branch of the ALP, while Leighton Holdings donated $156,000 to the NSW Liberals.
At a federal level, donations from developers to the two major parties swelled to $1 million in the year to June 2008 from $776,000 a year earlier.
Mr Matusik said there was a surge in donations by developers before the November 2007 federal election.
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