Pokies jackpot helps fund Daniel Andrews' re-election

Victoria's pokies and pubs lobby gave a record $761,000 to the Daniel Andrews-led ALP as part of a $1 million campaign to deny the Greens the balance of power at the state election last November.

Australian Electoral Commission disclosures on Monday revealed the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) made the extraordinary donation to state Labor in 2018-19 while also giving $190,000 to the Victorian Liberals and $181,000 to the Nationals.

The Australian Hotels Association gave a huge donation to help the Andrews government gain majority government.Credit: John Woudstra

The association's donation to Labor was a four-fold increase on the $171,000 it gave Labor before the 2014 election.

As The Age revealed in March, the AHA imposed a special one-off levy on Victorian pub poker machines to bankroll donations to Labor and the Coalition parties. It also funded independents who preferenced the major parties.

The gaming industry feared that if the Greens won the balance of power in Victoria they would push to implement strong anti-pokies policies, including phasing poker machines out of pubs and clubs and introducing $1 maximum bets.

The community clubs sector (such as football clubs) also contributed to Labor's thumping victory and the routing of the Greens, with its first state election campaign aimed at encouraging the 600,000 members of its gaming clubs to vote for the major parties.

As The Age also revealed AHA has been the main lobby over many years opposing the introduction of a container deposit scheme in Victoria.

On Sunday, on the eve of the commission's annual donations disclosure, the Victorian government let it be known it would introduce such a scheme, with consumers who return drink bottles and cans to recoup 10¢ per container. The scheme will be made public within the month, but it won’t be operational until 2023.

The pubs and clubs were alarmed when opinion polls last year pointed to a close election result and what one senior pub industry insider described as the potential "crisis" of a hung parliament.

Mr Andrews, who was gaming minister in the Bracks-Brumby government, is well known in Labor circles for his friendly relationship with the AHA. On Monday he would not comment on the donation. A spokesman instead referred The Age to ALP headquarters.

AHA Victoria chief executive Paddy O'Sullivan also declined to answer questions directly about the size of its donations or the reasons for them.

“The AHA supports political candidates, sitting MPs and political parties who show an empathy for our industry and a willingness to consult,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

John Woodman last month, after spending a day on the stand at IBAC.Credit: Justin McManus

The AHA is the major lobby for pubs, hospitality and gaming, with members including Woolworths' majority-owned ALH group, Australia's biggest poker machine venue operator, and the James Packer-backed Crown Resorts.

The AEC figures also confirm that both the ALP and Liberals received donations in 2018-19 from John Woodman, the controversial developer and planner at the centre of the Casey land scandal.

Mr Woodman’s planning consultancy Watsons Pty Ltd disclosed donations of $44,000 to the ALP Victorian branch for the 2018 state election, $12,000 to Labor for the federal poll and $20,000 to the federal Liberals.

But Mr Woodman has publicly confirmed donating almost $160,000 for the November state election, most of which has not been disclosed by the AEC because most of his donations were under the disclosure threshold of $13,800.

Mr Woodman allegedly bribed certain Casey councillors for lucrative planning outcomes and his use of political donations to curry favour with politicians has been a key issue at the recent anti-corruption hearings over the scandal.

The Age asked both the ALP and Liberals if they intended to keep the Woodman donations given the serious allegations against him.

Labor state secretary Clare Burns would not be interviewed about either AHA or Woodman donations. Instead she emailed a written statement indicating the party would keep the Woodman money. "All donations to Victorian Labor are accepted, reported and recorded in line with legal requirements," she said in writing.

The Liberal party has not yet responded.

The Bus Association of Victoria donated $407,500 to the Liberal Party’s Victorian branch as well as $92,500 to the Nationals’ Victorian division.

In 2018 families who owned many of Melbourne’s bus companies were angered by a Victorian government bid to buy them out and create a state-owned transport network. The Bus Association was a fierce critic of the Andrews government during the dispute.

The Victorian Liberal Party’s most generous benefactor, the Cormack Foundation, donated more than $2.5 million in 2018-19.

Before the 2018 state election the Cormack Foundation was locked in a bitter legal stoush with former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger who himself donated $100,000 to the party. That dispute has since been resolved.

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