First realtime donations reporting shows donors giving more than $1,000 have put more than double Labor’s $1.3m into LNP coffers since last federal election

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

More than 60% of big donations in Queensland went into the Liberal National party’s campaign war chest over the past 14 months, as the party ramped up its fundraising for a looming state election.

Meanwhile One Nation, which some pundits predict may win enough seats to hold the balance of power in the next state parliament, took just $2,215 in reportable donations, according to figures from the Electoral Commission of Queensland.

Australia’s first “realtime” donations reporting system shows donors who gave more than $1,000 – the threshold for public disclosure – put $3.1m into the LNP’s campaign coffers since the last federal election.

This is more than double Labor’s $1.3m from big donors over the same period.

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Political parties in Queensland have taken just over $5m in reportable donations since 4 July last year.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Queensland division reported only two donations above the $1,000 threshold, one in the days after Hanson’s federal success, and another in June.

One Nation Queensland office administrator Greg Smith said most donations received by the party were individual contributions of less than $1,000. “We’d like corporate support but we don’t have it to any great extent,” Smith said.

Asked if donors may give money for the state campaign via a federal One Nation entity, Smith said: “You can’t do that. Why would they do that?”

Its reportable donations were dwarfed by Katter’s Australian party ($164,811), the Greens ($116,811), Family First ($43,555), and even the Palmer United party ($20,000), which was deregistered in May.

The LNP began a concerted appeal for supporter donations for the state election with emails on 31 July linking to a slick video calling on voters to “Get rid of Labor”.

A similar email on behalf of LNP president, Gary Spence, was circulated on Friday.

Paul Williams, a Griffith university political scientist, said it was not surprising the LNP had amassed more in donations than Labor, as the former was seen as being in “the box seat to form minority government” in a tight contest.



“It’s very difficult to see on current polling how Labor can move from 41 seats in the old parliament to 47 in the new parliament [with five new seats] when its primary vote is down and everyone will probably preference against it,” Williams said.

“It’s been a pretty mediocre government in many respects: a hung parliament, ministerial gaffes, sackings, the surge of One Nation. The opposition should be streets ahead but the fact it’s still relatively level-pegged doesn’t speak volumes about the LNP either.”

With speculation of an election any time from November to March next year, Williams said the lead-up was the key time for donors looking for access to discuss policy agendas with a future government.

“There’s no point donating after an election,” he said. “It’s a very foolish donor or recipient who thinks that money is going to change policy. But what it does do is it opens channels of communication – it’s a legitimate part of lobbying.”

Among the prominent political donors in the past year were waste companies, following some controversy about interstate rubbish being dumped in Queensland.

An ABC Four Corners story on 8 August prompted the state government to order a crackdown on interstate rubbish trucks and an independent review of the practice.

The LNP’s single largest donation, $50,000 on 30 August, came from waste giant JJ Richards and Sons, one of two large donations it made after the Four Corners story.

JJ Richards and Sons has given $84,000 to the LNP since March, making it one of the state’s biggest donors. Another waste operator, the NSW-based Suez Recycling and Recovery has given $35,500 to the LNP since last November and $11,000 to Labor in March.

Labor’s single biggest donation was $50,000 from the Maritime Union of Australia last month. It also took $11,000 last July from Careers Australia, which collapsed less than a year later.

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Williams said this campaign would be notable for the use on both sides of politics of “pay per view” fundraisers, where ministers are available to speak with corporate donors, a practice banned under the former Bligh Labor government.



He said war chests mattered as campaigns remained expensive, with TV advertising and on-the-ground volunteers still more influential than social media.

Graeme Orr, an electoral law expert at the University of Queensland, said it was still not possible to get a “clean distinction” on whether donations were intended for state or federal campaigns as the LNP and state Labor accepted money for both.