NT Inquiry into Political Donations: Justice Mansfield Appointed as Commissioner

Tuesday 18 July 2017 @ 9.06 a.m. | Judiciary, Legal Profession & Procedure | Legal Research

The NT Government has announced the appointment of Honourable Justice John Mansfield as the Commissioner for the Political Donations inquiry, which was announced late last year. In addition, the Labor government has also released the terms of reference for the inquiry, with a focus on investigating the relationship between campaigning and political donations. The Inquiry is especially targeted towards investigating the Country Liberal Party (CLP) and its affiliated organisation, Foundation 51.

Terms of Reference

The report is expected to be delivered within a year of appointment by Justice Mansfield and will focus on:

Whether there should be a cap on how much parties can spend during campaigning, how it is to be calculated, and other considerations;
Whether it is appropriate to consider ‘full’ or ‘partial’ public funding of parties and candidates;
In the case of a partial funding scheme, what the recommendations as to a potential model would be, as well as thresholds and bases for funding;
What the appropriate level to cap the value of political donations to parties, groups, candidates and third party campaigners should be, as well as methodology to determine that cap and enforcement measures;
Controls that should apply to the making of political donations: including whether or not particular groups of donors should be excluded and any limitations or caps on such political donations; and
Whether there have been breaches of the Electoral Act 2004 (NT) (‘the Act’) in relation to political donations over the past 10 years.

In addition, legislative amendments will be considered to ensure that limits on political donations and disclosure cannot be avoided through using third parties or associated entities. These considerations include:

The structure of Foundation 51, which is an affiliate of the CLP and the scope of its activities;
The relationship between Foundation 51 and the NT government and any conflicts of interest;
The extent of direct and indirect support provided by Foundation 51 to the CLP, MPs and candidates for Parliamentary elections;
The extent of breaches of the Act and other legislation by Foundation 51; and
The activities of Harold Nelson Holdings, which is an affiliate organisation of the Labor Party, and its compliance record with the Act.

Background to Appointment

Justice Mansfield has been appointed under section 4A of the Inquiries Act 1945 (NT). He has been appointed on the recommendation of an Advisory Panel, which was established in line with the Judicial Appointments Protocol.

Justice Mansfield held appointment as Justice of the Federal Court from 1996 to 2016. Previous to this, he was appointed as Queen’s Counsel for South Australia in 1985 and for NT in 1988. He was Counsel assisting the Commissioner for the Royal Commission into the State Bank of South Australia from 1991 to 1993.

In the Government's media release, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said:

"Territorians are entitled to know that the public interest, not private interests, dictates public policy and decisions of Government. This inquiry gives us the opportunity to restore this confidence, by shining a light on previous conduct and delivering a credible path forward to reform political donations for the future."

Opposition Response

Late last year, the former CLP leader Terry Mills argued that Labor had also been involved in murky political donations in the past. He said:

"Before you start crafting yourselves as the ones who are pure as the driven snow and this has only happened to those baddies that are now no longer with us, be careful and ever vigilant that you don't fall into the trap of this ever occurring again, because it has happened before."

The inquiry was part of Labor’s election promise in 2016. CLP has not yet commented on the appointment of Justice Mansfield at the time of writing.

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products. Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice and does not substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.