Opinion: Payments to Queensland political parties, candidates revealed
Queensland political parties and candidates have received nearly $13 million for contesting the state election, writes Des Houghton.
Opinion
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You have been very generous with your money this year, giving political parties and individual candidates more than $12.8 million for contesting the last state election.
The ALP got $3.75 million and its qualifying candidates another $1.87 million, according to electoral funding figures tabled in Parliament.
The LNP got $3.4 million and its candidates $1.59 million.
The Queensland Greens got $793,680 and its candidates $396,599.
Pauling Hanson was rubbing her hands with glee.
Her One Nation party got $516,029 and its candidates $135,627, even though it has just one member in the Legislative Assembly. He’s Stephen Andrew, the Member for Mirani.
It has to be said that Andrew is popular with members on both sides of the House.
I’ll go off on a tangent here and say Andrew is an interesting fellow.
He is a licensed weapons dealer and has been a miner, an inventor, an engineer, a coxswain and a shooter. He collects vintage Sako and Brno rifles. He has a company eradicating feral animals.
Katter’s Australian Party got $230,226 and KAP candidates got $91,772.
Eight eligible independent candidates pulled enough votes to get $48,836.
And these electoral funding payments may double after the next election.
I’m told payments to registered political parties will jump from $3.14 to $6.00 for each formal first preference vote, while individual candidates will get $3 per vote, up from $1.57.
As well, the eligibility threshold for both registered political parties and candidates will decrease from 6 per cent to 4 per cent of formal first-preference votes.
I’m told the Electoral Commission of Queensland also distributes policy development payments, whatever they are.
The total pool of policy development funding was $3 million last year. In July next year it will be boosted to $6 million.
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