AEC reveals political donations: Tony Nutt’s tough job

Richard Alston tries to call Malcolm Turnbull on federal election night. Picture: Hollie Adams

Of course Malcolm Turnbull’s wasn’t the only major donation missing from the pile released yesterday by the Australian Electoral Commission.

As last year’s eight-week election campaign dragged on, Liberal Party federal director Tony Nutt’s attempts to raise money became ever more desperate.

Email inboxes were bombarded with requests for money to fund the interminable campaign (which the party, of course, brought on itself).

One of those harried by desperate Liberal fundraisers was Crown Resorts billionaire James Packer, as was reported in an unflattering autopsy of the Liberals’ campaign published in this paper.

And to go by yesterday’s release, those clumsy entreaties moved Packer to dig deep last June.

The latest recorded donation from Packer’s Crown to the Libs was for $4000 to the party’s WA division, which was given on May 19, in the second week of the campaign. That followed an earlier one to the Libs’ Victorian division in the first week of the campaign, which was for $360. Not the sums Nutt was hoping for.

Now, it is possible a Packer donation was made just after the June 30 disclosure cut-off, as was the case with the Prime Minister’s contribution (which Turnbull last night revealed on the ABC’s 7:30 was for $1.75 million).

But it seems more likely the donation never happened.

It’s hard to imagine former Labor powerbroking duo Mark Arbib and Karl Bitar — now both Packer lieutenants — urging such generosity towards the PM.

The apparently failed fundraising attempt took place the month before the billionaire hired Turnbull’s nemesis Peta Credlin to join his private business empire.

Thankfully for Nutt, other local richies were more responsive to his pleas.

Liberal Party President Richard Alston (C) tries to call Malcolm Turnbull after Anthony Pratt (L) asked him whether on not Turnbull would be making an appearance on Federal election night 2016. Picture: Hollie Adams/The Australian

Melbourne billionaire Anthony Pratt sent in a well-timed $500,000on June 6, halfway through the campaign.

No wonder Liberal Party president Richard Alston was so helpful to the Visy mogul at last year’s election night knees-up-turned-wake at Sydney’s Sofitel Wentworth. He’s certainly a guest to look after.

Game of drones

Tony Nutt was in the audience yesterday as Malcolm Turnbull addressed the National Press Club, although there was no sign of him passing the collection plate around.

Joining him was just about all the federal ministry, as to be expected for the PM’s first big set piece for the year.

There was Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Defence Minister Marise Payne, Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia Josh Frydenberg, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield’s summer beard (long may it reign).

Treasurer Scott Morrison was in good spirits, while Treasury Secretary John Fraser (the former UBS investment banker with the enviable international real estate portfolio to prove it) looked a bit less excited about the year ahead. Wonder how many more budgets Fraser has in him?

Treasury secretary John Fraser at Malcolm Turnbull’s Press Club address yesterday.

The Australian Bankers’ Association outgoing boss Steven Munchenberg was along, having skipped the address — and another call for a banking royal commission — by Labor leader Bill Shorten at the same venue the day before.

We hear Munchenberg was thrilled about Shorten’s shout out to the ABA’s new ad campaign.

Crocker shifts

Also representing the banking crowd at the Press Club was the blue half of Westpac’s government relations team, Matt Crocker. (Chris Bowen’s former chief of staff Brett Gale is the red half).

We mentioned in yesterday’s column that soundings had been made to lure Crocker back into NSW state politics, which he left last year to join Brian Hartzer’s banking outfit.

Seems the attractive offer of more work for less money was successful. Crocker, we understand, will soon join the office of Gladys Berejiklian, as her head of policy.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will soon count Matt Crocker as her head of policy.

Berejiklian will be the third premier he has served in that position, following Mike Baird and before that Barry O’Farrell. One for the state political history books.

Kids first for Murdoch

A rare member of the Turnbull cabinet not at the boss’s Press Club address was Greg Hunt. The new Health Minister instead joined the mighty cast that turned up to the Melbourne Children’s Hospital yesterday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the hospital’s research arm and the largest paediatric institute in the country.

Star of the show, all the way from the US, was News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch and his wife Jerry.

Rupert quipped in his speech that between them he and Jerry have 10 children and more than 20 grandchildren. Looking on was Pratt family matriarch Jeanne Pratt, who also happened to be celebrating her 81st birthday with her son Anthony (of the earlier mentioned $500,000 rescue donation to the Liberals) and daughter Fiona Geminder, who were both along.

Also in the crowd were Peter Yates, chairman of the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation and a board member of Royal Children’s Hospital, as well as ambassadors of the MCRI Sarah Murdoch with husband and News Corp co-chairman Lachlan in tow, and Ros Packer (mother of the mogul who, it seems, thought better of making a big donation to the Liberals last year).

Other guests included Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, John and Janet Calvert-Jones, Julia Kantor, Herald & Weekly Times chairman Penny Fowler, Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford, Fox family matriarch Paula Fox, former Macquarie Group director Laurie Cox and Wesfarmers and AFL director Paul Bassat.

No Helou for ASIC

Former boss of troubled milk producer Murray Goulburn Gary Helou has never been short of surprises. Just ask a dairy farmer.

Gary Helou maintains he didn’t mislead investors.

And Helou was true to form during his teleconference appearance before the Senate economics committee looking into the dairy industry.

It was all pretty same old as Helou maintained he didn’t mislead investors in the outfit’s prospectus.

“We didn’t mislead. I didn’t mislead,” he said to the senators at the hearing, which was held in Perth.

“We acted on the best information available to us at the time.”

What did raise eyebrows — particularly those of senator Nick Xenophon — was Helou’s revelation that he still hadn’t been interviewed by Greg Medcraft’s corporate regulator ASIC.

Xenophon was so surprised that he asked Helou again. He gave the same answer — there had been no interview with ASIC.

We called Helou after his appearance, just to check we hadn’t misunderstood him.

Had they really not interviewed him?

“I have nothing to add,” he said.

ASIC wasn’t chatty on the subject either. It seems whatever inquiries they made were with chairman Philip Tracy and possibly other Murray Goulburn non-executive directors, although the interrogation process is about as clear as the business model in the MG prospectus.

Xenophon isn’t impressed.

“I would have thought this would have been a priority for ASIC given what’s transpired at Murray Goulburn,” he told us. “It just seems extraordinary.”

Does seem a bit odd.