Slow disclosure regimes mean the state’s voters have had to wait 11 months to discover the source of the huge donations

The gambling lobby donated more than $500,000 to the Liberals to help defeat Tasmanian Labor and stymie plans to remove poker machines from the state’s pubs and clubs.

Data released on Friday morning also reveals donations worth $500,000 from ANZ bank to both Labor and the Liberals during political wrangling over the royal commission, and significant contributions by the mining and resources industry to both sides of politics, including $50,000 from Adani to the Liberals and One Nation.

It also reveals tobacco giant Philip Morris, which is lobbying to overhaul a vaping ban, donated $56,500 to the Nationals and $40,000 to the Liberal Democrats.

Tasmania's FOI regime crippled by 'outrageous' delays, academics say Read more

But the source of vast amounts of money pumped into political parties remains hidden from public view. So-called “dark money” accounts for more than half of the Liberals’ total funding, one third of federal Labor’s, and 43.6% of the Nationals’.

In the lead-up to the Tasmanian election, the Liberals surprised many with a costly saturation advertising blitz, which analysts believed represented the most expensive election campaign in the state’s history.

But the woefully slow donation disclosure regimes operating in Tasmania and federally meant voters were left oblivious to the vested interests behind the largesse when they went to the polls.

Now, 11 months after the election was held, the origins of the money have finally become clear in data showing that the gambling and hospitality industry gave at least $514,000 to the Tasmanian Liberals in 2017-18.

‘The Liberal party declared that the Tasmanian Hospitality Association gave $160,000 in 2017-18, while Kalis Hospitality, Jonod, the Federal Group, and EBC Leisure – all companies with Tasmanian gaming interests – gave $244,000 between them.

But even now, the Tasmanian Liberals have not disclosed all the money they received from the industry. The records show a discrepancy between what was declared by the Tasmanian Hospitality Association and what was declared by the Tasmanian Liberals. The association says it gave the Liberals about $270,000, vastly more than the $160,000 that has been declared by the party.

The discrepancy exists because, just days before the election, the association gave the Liberals a series of $10,000 donations, which the party did not have to declare because they were below the then disclosure threshold of $13,500. Grattan Institute researcher and donations expert Danielle Wood says the Tasmanian example illustrates “beautifully” the failings of Australia’s donations transparency regime.

“It’s another one of these annual reminders we get about how deeply flawed the commonwealth’s donations regime is,” Wood told Guardian Australia. “The fact that we had a very significant flow of money from one particular industry during an election campaign; people suspected it was there, but the voters of Tasmania are only finding out now, more than a year and a half later. It’s unacceptable.”

The sources of donations that are below the disclosure threshold of $13,500 will largely be hidden. Disclosure thresholds in state governments – including Queensland, Victoria, and NSW – are now $1,000.

“Again it just shows how little we can actually see about money in the system,” Wood said.

“About half of the total funding of the Coalition we know nothing about [and] about a third of the funding for the ALP.”

The usual donors again feature heavily in the data released on Friday. Unions, energy and mining companies, insurance groups, and entities associated with Labor and the Liberals all pumped money into the major parties.

The biggest individual donor was the West Australian Greens convener Chilla Bulbeck, who gave $600,000 to her party last year. Vapold Pty Ltd, a Liberal fundraising entity, returned $2.3m to the party, the biggest contribution by far.

The Labor party’s largest donor was the Electrical Trades Union ($940,000), followed by the party’s fundraising vehicles the Progressive Business group ($735,200) and the 1973 Foundation ($521,537).

The data reveals that Dick Smith – a prominent campaigner for slower population growth – has bankrolled the Sustainable Australia Party with $36,840 donations. It shows that Adani made two donations to the Liberals in 2017-18 worth $35,000 as it attempted to gain support for its controversial Carmichael mine. The mining giant also donated $15,000 to One Nation.

The data also shows significant donations from Village Roadshow, the entertainment giant, a long-term donor to both parties which has simultaneously lobbied for tougher piracy laws. Village donated $112,000 to the Coalition and $51,144 to Labor in 2017-18.