‘Toxic’ Liberal machine embedded corrupt fundraiser after ICAC ruling
A corporate appendage of the NSW Liberal Party under legal threat from the branch’s own candidates was used to obscure a supposedly defunct and corrupt fundraising vehicle.
The fundraising vehicle Millenium Forum, disavowed by the NSW Liberals for its part in a campaign donation laundering scheme, has quietly remained part of their political apparatus, returning the party to strife for its alleged role in the failure to nominate 140 local government candidates.
Liberal-aligned company Bunori Pty Ltd has been named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit against the Liberal Party’s NSW branch after jilted candidates blamed the party’s dysfunction for the premature end of their political careers.
Bunori is a parent company of the Millennium Forum – a fundraiser caught by the ICAC in 2016 for accepting the laundered donations of property developers cycled through federal Liberal donation vehicle the Free Enterprise Foundation to bypass state electoral laws.
When the scandal was first reported in 2014, then state finance director Tony Nutt told the media Millennium Forum would be shut down and a new company, Federal Forum, would be set up purely for the collection of federal donations.
However, ASIC records show Millennium Forum and Federal Forum were not shut down until September last year. Bunori, meanwhile, handles expenses, staff hiring and agreements on behalf of the party across all levels of government.
Bunori, Millennium Forum and Federal Forum all share an ABN. The Australian understands Millennium Forum was kept registered in order to prevent its business name from being misappropriated.
Bunori was also the vehicle through which local council candidacies were meant to be lodged with the NSW Electoral Commission, the failed duty at the centre of a class action helmed by former Cessnock deputy mayor John Moores.
“It is strange that the Liberal Party campaigns on accountability and transparency but has its own complex maze of intertwined entities and trusts,” Mr Moores said. “All our efforts and campaigning were directed to our local community under the Liberal Party brand.”
Should the class action progress, the court will be asked to determine whether either Bunori or the state branch had failed in its vicarious liability to the candidates.
Former Liberal state executive Geoff Pearson said the state branch veered towards secrecy whenever it could, and party members were given little information on its internal workings.
“There’s never any detail provided as to these structures, and questions about them are usually deflected,” Mr Pearson said.
“There is a distinct culture of lack of transparency and accountability. Australia is not well served as a result … The local government debacle of last August is a prime example.
“I am rather pessimistic about our future unless there’s major change, and I can’t see anybody that wants major change … The party should be incorporated so that it can be justiciable and that a clear constitution can be enforced.”
Lawyers for the state executive in the class action on Friday argued the party could not be sued because of this technicality.
Bunori is one of four NSW Liberal-associated entities logged with the NSWEC under newly appointed financial director Christine Silke. Her ascendancy to senior leadership followed Peter Dutton’s decision to place the state branch under federal administration.
This arrangement is set to expire on June 30 and will be one of the first major decisions for Sussan Ley regarding the future structure of her party.
ASIC records indicate the four associated entities were registered from the mid-1970s through to the mid-1980s, with directorships and business addresses heavily overlapping between them. One of these companies, Liberal Asset Management (Custodians) Ltd, is the sole shareholder for Bunori.
Current Liberal state director Chris Stone is also the registered director of both Bunori and Liberal Asset Management.
The 2016 ICAC investigation probed donations to the Liberal Party during the 2011 state election. In a press release at its conclusion, ICAC said it had “found that during November and December 2010 the Free Enterprise Foundation was used to channel donations to the NSW Liberal Party for its 2011 state election campaign so that the identity of the true donors was disguised”.
“A substantial portion of the $693,000 provided by the foundation and used by the NSW Liberal Party in the campaign originated from donors who were property developers and, therefore, prohibited donors under the election funding laws,” the statement reads.
Nine Liberal MPs were found to have the “intention of evading political donations laws”.
Along with the Millennium and Federal Forums, Bunori is also a parent company to the 500 Club, which remains registered. Liberal clubs are generally used to forge ongoing donor relationships with businesses and affluent supporters.
Former Liberal executive Matthew Camenzuli, a one-time litigant against the party, said the party’s structure brought “toxicity” to the surface.
“When it comes to knowledge of finances and corporate structures, substructures and even the structure of HQ, many members of the state executive are treated as outsiders at best,” Mr Camenzuli said.
“Worse still, party members are treated as the enemy. The culture of HQ and the senior leadership has been toxic. It is more than just factionalism. It is not a surprise to me that people have lost faith in the organisation.”
The NSW Liberal Party was contacted for comment.
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