But the LNP is currently not required to declare the funds raised as donations, because it discloses them as commercial transactions. The ABC's 7.30 program revealed on Wednesday night the practice had raised fears of a growing culture of secrecy surrounding party donors. It comes after the LNP also raised the donation disclosure threshold from $1000 to $12,400 last year. The combination of the two means the vast majority of LNP donations are not disclosed. When quizzed about the secrecy concerns on Thursday, Premier Campbell Newman declined to answer, instead accusing the Labor Party of lacking transparency.

"If we're talking about transparency, we are only a few days now away from an election and Queenslanders haven't had the answers about how the Labor Party will fund their promises or actually deliver on the things they said they would deliver on," he said. "If you want to talk about transparency, we published ministerial diaries, we have [right to information requests] handled by the public servants, not political staffers. "It is now an offence to lie to parliament again. All of these things that Labor never did or took away and we've put them in." An LNP spokesman also dodged questions about QEC lobbying and why the party would not disclose the events as donations. He instead issued a one line statement.

"The LNP complies with all regulations surrounding the declaration of donations and other receipts in accordance with state and federal electoral laws," he said. Queensland Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk has also been caught up in controversy over her party's continued practice of cash-for-access fundraisers. Former Labor premier Anna Bligh banned the events after criticism from prominent corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald. But Ms Palaszczuk said the events were an essential fundraiser for the party's election campaign and attacked the LNP for its lack of transparency. "All electoral donations by Labor over $1000 are declared," she said.

"The LNP has raised $11 million from secret donors. It is all above board from the Labor Party. We are declaring it. The LNP is not." The QEC did not respond to requests for comment. - with Amy Remeikis