CLP disclosure missing as Northern Territory political donations revealed ahead of election

Political parties in the NT have received thousands of dollars in donations over the past six months. See where the money is coming from.

Fia Walsh

@fiawalsh

2 min read

February 7, 2024 - 12:38PM

Political donations have been published by the electoral commission - but the CLP failed to submit theirs by deadline.

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The Country Liberal Party has failed to disclose political donations it may have received, as required by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission.

Details of financial gifts received by political parties in the six months to December 31 were published this week, revealing Territory Labor received $73,159 from 123 donors, including Paspaley Pearls, Tamboran Resources and Arafura Rare Earths.

The Greens received the bulk of its $71,459 in donations from the national branch, which contributed more than $55,000 as the party ramps up efforts to get a member elected in the NT for the first time.

Independents Robyn Lambley, Mark Turner, Kezia Purick, and Yingiya Mark Guyula submitted returns showing they did not receive any donations in the past six months.

Along with the CLP, the Shooters and Fishers Party NT also failed to submit its forms by deadline.

CLP Treasurer Tony Schelling said he had “let the party down by not meeting the deadline”, and the forms would be submitted by Friday.

“I’m a volunteer and have a business to run, and I was not prepared to submit inaccurate data, we want to ensure it’s correct,” he said.

Mr Schelling said while he was committed to meeting the electoral commission requirements, he questioned the utility of the financial disclosures.

“They want to know about small internal things we do, like a raffle we hold every year. It’s irrelevant, it has no value to the people and isn’t relevant to the election.”

Since 2020 the NT Electoral Commission has published political donations received in the lead up to an election.

In the lead up to every election in the Territory since 2020, the Electoral Commission publishes financial dealings of registered political parties, candidates and others involved in the electoral process, requiring donors to be named if they offer cash or in-kind gifts worth $1500 or more.

An NT Electoral Commission spokeswoman said four reminder emails were sent to the CLP before the disclosures were published online this week.

“The CLP will now be sent a warning letter requesting they submit the outstanding return immediately. A similar letter will be sent to the Shooters and Fishers Party,” she said.

The 2020 Territory election was the first time additional financial disclosure applied, and a number of returns from parties and candidates were late.

“Given this was the first time these provisions applied the NTEC focused on educating parties and candidates on their disclosure requirements,” the spokeswoman said.

“While the NTEC will continue to support electoral participant with complying with their financial disclosure obligations a constructive compliance approach will be taken for the 2024 Territory Election.”