Teal independent funders top list of political donors
The Australian’s analysis shows the source was unknown for some $75.6m donated to political parties and independent MPs – so-called ‘dark money’ that fell under the disclosure requirement.
Teal independent funders have topped the list of political donors for the last financial year, but new rules being considered by parliament could curtail the influence of figures like Simon Holmes a Court.
Investor Rob Keldoulis topped the list, with his company Keldoulis Investments having donated $1,009,352 to Climate 200 in the 2023-24 financial year, according to figures released by the Australian Electoral Commission.
Visy boss and Trump backer Anthony Pratt made a one-time $1m donation to the Labor Party in January 2024.
Gambler and mathematician Marcus Catsaras donated $999,978 to Climate 200 in the first half of 2024.
The disclosures come as parliament is about to meet for the first time this year, in what could be the last sitting weeks of this term.
Labor is set to make a new push on electoral reforms after talks with the Coalition stalled at the end of last year.
The new proposed donation caps have been opposed by teal independents who say they would entrench the power of the main parties.
In total, the Labor Party and its state and territory branches raked in about $67m in the last financial year. The Coalition secured $72m once donations between branches and the federal body are accounted for.
The Greens got about $15m, One Nation about $2m, and the Jacqui Lambie Network about $320,000.
Kooyong MP Monique Ryan received the most donations among teal independent MPs in the last financial year, at $681,218. Allegra Spender got $567,226 and Zoe Daniel $374,010.
The Australian’s analysis of the disclosures shows $75.6m of funds for which the source is unknown went to political parties and independent MPs – so-called “dark money” that fell under the $16,300 disclosure requirement.
Some $25.5m of this went to various ALP branches, about 38 per cent of its received donations; $34.7m went to various Coalition branches, about 48.2 per cent of its donations; and $7.7m went to the Greens, about 51.3 per cent of its donations.
After Labor appeared to be open to narrowing its original electoral reform ambitions to get it through the parliament, Employment Minister Murray Watt told ABC radio on Monday it was still a priority to lower the disclosure requirement figure and make sure those donations were made public more quickly.
Senator Watt also talked about a cap on donations and expenditure, saying that Australia should not mirror a US-style “arms race”.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Sunday said the Coalition had been in “discussion … with the government” on the reform.
“No agreement has been arrived at, but we conduct the discussions in good faith, and we’ll make any announcement in due course,” he said.
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