NSW Labor Party to ‘quarantine’ $100,000 in donations

NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley has ordered $100,000 in potentially “tainted” donations to be “quarantined” by the Labor Party’s head office following revelations the donations were party of an ICAC probe.

• Questions raised over Chinese donors after ICAC raid

NSW Labor leader Michael Daley has instructed his party’s head office to “quarantine” $100,000 in potentially “tainted” donations from 2015.

The cash relates to donations from a fundraising dinner held by Chinese Friends of Labor in Sydney on March 12 2015.

In December, the Independent Commission Against Corruption raided NSW Labor’s office on Sussex Street as part of an investigation into the donations from this dinner.

A photo from the Chinese Friends of Labor Launch for the 2015 State Election: Picture: Sam Dastyari Facebook

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Mr Daley said he rang NSW General-secretary Kaila Murnain this morning to request she quarantine the donations that are being investigated.

“I’ve spoken to the Secretary of the Labor Party today and I’ve issued her a very simple direction: work with the electoral commission and send them $100,000 to quarantine the amount the ABC mentions is the donations. I don’t know if there’s any tainted money in those donations but if there is I don’t want a bar of it. We won’t be using any of it in the campaign,” he said.

Mr Daley said he was taking the action after reports by the ABC this morning that $100,000 in “straw man” donations from this dinner were part of the ICAC probe.

NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley. Picture: Dan Himbrechts

Last year the party was forced to pay back $250,000 in historic donations it received from convicted murderer Ron Medich. NSW Labor says that money is being distributed to charities.

But it is not being paid back from the party’s bank account rather it’s being siphoned off from MPs pay packets.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the reports of the potentially dodgy donations were “very concerning”.

“At face value it’s very concerning. Unfortunately many people will be shaking their heads thinking nothing much has changed with the Labor Party,” she said.