Deceased Liberal stalwart party’s second biggest donor

Former Tasmanian A-G, the late Vanessa Goodwin, has become a major donor to the Liberal Party with a $207,349 bequest.

Vanessa Goodwin died in MArch 2018. Picture: Sam Rosewarne.

Former Tasmanian Attorney-General, the late Vanessa Goodwin, has become a major donor to the Liberal Party – from the grave.

The widely respected former state minister, who died of brain cancer in March 2018, was on Monday revealed as the second largest declared donor to the party's Tasmanian division in 2018-19.

Dr Goodwin left the party a significant bequest in her will, with $207,349 paid to it by lawyers for her estate in the disclosure period.

“Two of Dr Goodwin’s biggest passions were her community, which she served with distinction for many years, and the Liberal Party, to which she made an enduring contribution throughout her life,” said Liberal Party state president Rod Scurrah.

“Her bequest has allowed the party to continue to fight for the causes that were close to her heart.”

Dr Goodwin’s bequest was the second largest declared donation to the party’s Tasmanian division, behind the Liberal’s federal secretariat, which provided $293,538.

The party performed well in the island state at the May 2019 federal election, wrestling the northern seats of Bass and Braddon from Labor.

While the party’s Tasmanian division received $3.38 million in donations in 2018-19, the source of only $793,076 of this is publicly revealed, due to the legal disclosure threshold of $13,800.

Sugolena, a company linked to Sydney property developer Isaac Wakil, donated $50,000 to the Tasmanian Liberals.

Tasmania’s Greens, meanwhile, continued to benefit from the generosity of conservation-minded wotif.com founder Graeme Wood, who donated $30,000 to the party.

The state Labor Party continued to rely heavily on trade union support, receiving $33,515 from the Health and Community Services Union and $16,249 from the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association.