Zali Steggall denies donation ‘hypocrisy’ over coal investor

Independent Zali Steggall says she didn’t attempt to publicly conceal a $100,000 donation from coal investor John Kinghorn.

Warringah MP Zali Steggall. Picture: AAP

Independent MP Zali Steggall says she did not attempt to publicly conceal a $100,000 donation from the family trust of coal investor John Kinghorn, describing the decision as both a “rookie error” and an accounting error.

Ms Steggall said she has never met Mr Kinghorn and did not know the donation had been split — taking the donation below the threshold that requires public disclosure.

“I think you have to ask the question of why they choose to donate like that. It is because people feel they will be targeted if they make a donation,” Ms Steggall told ABC’s Radio National on Tuesday.

“I was trying to unseat a former Prime Minister who has been there for 25 years with a two million dollar war chest. People donating to my campaign were incredibly nervous about being targeted by the Liberal Party with recriminations.”

Ms Steggall said once the Australian Electoral Commission had raised the issue — informing her office they had only declared a single $100,000 donation — the record was immediately corrected.

Asked about the donation controversy on Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was a good example of how “people shouldn’t throw stones in glass houses”.

The Independent MP for Warringah said it was hypocritical for the Liberal Party to attack the honest mistake because they receive “millions in undisclosed donations”, adding that the system is “rigged against independents when compared to the party machine”.

Ms Steggall characterised the reporting of the $100,000 donation — broken by the Nine newspapers — as “a hit job”, suggesting the Liberal Party also played a part.

Liberal MPs have accused Ms Steggall of “hypocrisy” for failing to disclose the $100,000 donation for two years.

Special Minister of State Ben Morton said the push for transparency from independents backed by the Climate 200 group “only applies when it’s convenient for them”.

“This revelation demonstrates complex financial structures designed to avoid disclosure and to avoid transparency of the source of political donations,” he said.

Ms Steggall on Monday denied any wrongdoing after it was revealed the Australian Electoral Commission forced her campaign’s fundraising arm to publicly disclose the mammoth donation from the The Kinghorn Family Trust on its 2018-19 annual disclosure return.

An investigation by the AEC found the donations to Warringah Independent Ltd from members of the Kinghorn family were pledged in eight separate donations below the $13,800 threshold that requires public disclosure.

“On 20 January 2021, the financial controller of Warringah Independent Ltd advised AEC that the donation of $100,000 from The Kinghorn Family Trust to Warringah Independent Ltd consisted of eight individual donation amounts from Kinghorn family members,” the AEC’s report said.

“He provided eight individual pledge forms and donation receipts generated by Warringah Independent Ltd to the Kinghorn family members.

“Notwithstanding the donation consisted of eight individual pledges, one cheque of $100,000 was given to Warringah Independent Ltd from The Kinghorn Family Trust. Under the Electoral Act, the details of individual receipts exceeding the threshold must be disclosed in the annual disclosure return.”

Mr Kinghorn was the founder of RAMS Home Loans and a former investor and director in coal miners Cascade Coal and Felix Resources. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding the commonwealth of $30m in tax evasion through the sale of RAMS.

Ms Steggall, who has campaigned against the campaign funding influence of the fossil fuel industry, said “all amounts received were disclosed in accordance with the requirements in November 2019”.

“My campaign received over 1700 individual donations for the 2019 election. I received eight individual pledges from a large family living in my electorate. The AEC considered it to be one single donation, so the return was amended in 2021 to reflect that. The money was at all times disclosed,” she said.

“If you ruled out taking donations from anyone who has invested in coal at one time or another, you pretty much rule out everyone as most people have through their superannuation.”

Liberal MP Jason Falinski, who represents the neighbouring Sydney seat of Mackellar, said the “credibility … the Climate 200 franchised independents had is now obliterated”. “They have no policy, no credibility, all they have left now is ‘vote for us, we inherited a lot of money’,” Mr Falinski said.

Assistant Energy Minister Tim Wilson, s facing a challenge from a Climate 200-backed candidate in his Melbourne seat of Goldstein, accused Ms Steggall of “absolute hypocrisy”.

Climate 200 executive director Byron Fay said the group would be “proud to consider supporting her current campaign, if asked”.