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Baird pays $260,000 to take seat
Kim Shaw
8 May 2008
WINNING the marginal seat of Manly in last year's state election from the independent David Barr cost Mike Baird more than $260,000, figures just released reveal.
According to the Election Funding Authority, Mr Barr spent $58,693 on his re-election campaign for a third term in Parliament, dipping into his own resources after receiving $22,312 in donations.
The Liberal Party's Mr Baird blitzed the electorate with $93,448 worth of newspaper, broadcast and other advertising, while Mr Barr spent $34,063.
Mr Baird also spent $169,986 on other items such as distribution of electoral material, research and campaign rooms, with Mr Barr spending $24,630 on similar items.
Mr Baird's funds came from the NSW Liberal Party, which declared donations from property developers, hotels, banks and tobacco companies, among others.
He said it was important to factor in the advantages that sitting members had, such as a $70,000 mailout allowance and 12 months' rent for an electorate office.
"If you ask me the single reason that got me over the line, it was the community rewarding me for all the hard work and interaction," Mr Baird said.
Liberal Party policy is to direct political donations to head office rather than through individual candidates. Premier Morris Iemma has indicated he will introduce this as a mandatory rule for all candidates.
However, major flaws in the political donations disclosure rules were revealed at a recent parliamentary inquiry.
The EFA has recently made inquiries about mismatches between donations declared and donations received and has recommended 800 cases of donor non-disclosure to the Crown Solicitor for prosecution.
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