Donations to political parties did not influence construction policy, says Kelleher

The former head of the construction lobby says he does not believe that financial donations to political parties influenced their decisions.

Liam Kelleher said that if Government policies were helpful to builders, it was only because of their pre-Budget submissions.

Mr Kelleher and his successor Tom Parlon are giving evidence at the Banking Inquiry this morning.

He has told the inquiry that the Construction Industry Federation always made proposals that matched the Government's own priorities.

"We would have made that submission, it would have covered taxation areas and taxation issues important to the members," he said.

"And we would have sought to fit in the submission with what we knew to be Government priorities at the day, be it the National Spatial Strategy, or the investment in gateways or whatever it might be.