Clubs NSW said it donated the money to the Victorian Liberal division but the Menzies 200 Club declared itself as the recipient. Fairfax Media does not suggest the donations directly influenced Mr Andrews' decision making. Clubs NSW says they made the donation "for no particular purpose" and Mr Andrews says any assertion that his decision was influenced by donations is "wrong and offensive". Treasurer Joe Hockey said on Monday the Liberal party "cannot be bought" and accused the Labor party of being controlled by its biggest financial backers – the unions. He said the parties regularly discuss ways to improve the system but warned the public would end up paying if the private sector was banned from donating. "The bottom line is if you decrease private fundraising then you have to increase taxpayer funded election campaign," Mr Hockey said.

And the Treasurer dismissed the idea of politicians opting to reduce the amount of election propaganda the parties unleash on the electorate. "We'd all love to do spend less but when you've got 85 thousand voters per electorate to spend $2 per voter is a very easy thing to do, either in a letter or in two letters and a brochure is a very easy thing to do," he said. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was comfortable with the donation by Clubs NSW to Mr Andrews, saying the group has "made donations to both political parties". "I'm confident that the Coalition in particular has handled these sorts of donations well and in accordance with the rules," he said. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Monday that fundraisers do provide access to politicians, but insisted that stakeholders "don't have to buy a ticket to a fundraising lunch to see me".

He said there is no evidence that donations have ever influenced the policies of the Liberal Party. "I would say on the other hand that the policies of the Labor Party are clearly not just influenced but in many respects dictated by the trade union movement ... which controls the Labor Party and which is of course its largest source of funds too," Mr Turnbull said. Labor's spokesman Gary Gray moved a resolution at the party's conference on the weekend calling for greater transparency in political donations. Labor wants the disclosure threshold reduced from $13,000 to $1000. The ALP voluntarily discloses all donations above $1000 even though it is not obliged to do so. Mr Gray also wants real time reporting of political donations so voters can be aware of when powerful interests donate cash to parties and the timing of policy formulation.

"I call on the government to work with Labor to improve the integrity of our political donations system," Mr Gray said. "The government needs to work with Labor on this issue. All political parties receive private donations and all political parties must take responsibility for reform". Mr Hockey referred questions about whether or not donations should be declared in real time to his cabinet colleague, the Special Minister for State Michael Ronaldson. Fairfax Media has contacted the minister's office for comment. Follow Latika Bourke on Facebook