The Tasmanian Liberal Party has again attracted the most donations
The source of some of the Tasmanian Liberals’ undeclared income has been revealed by donor returns to the Electoral Commission. See the list >>
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Medical companies dominated the list of donors who contributed cash to the Tasmanian Liberal Party last financial year.
Analysis by the Mercury of donor financial returns filed with the Australian Electoral Commission reveals the source of some of the income not declared by the Liberals in the party’s 2022-23 return.
The contributions from 21 donors were not declared by the party because none of the individual donations exceeded this year’s AEC reporting threshold of $15,200.
However some donors gave the Tasmanian Liberals more than $15,200 in multiple smaller payments.
The Australian Forest Products Association contributed $22,850 in three payments, “big four” accounting firm Ernst and Young gave $17,600 in two payments, consultants Nexus APAC gave $15,925 in 12 payments and consultants National Advisory gave $15,400 in two payments.
Of the 23 entities that declared donations to the Liberals, nine were in the medical sphere.
They included pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Squibb, Organon Pharma and Roche Products.
Peak body Medicines Australia donated, as did the Pharmacy Guild, medical technology company Medtronic and medical centre owner Idameneo.
Both National Advisory and Nexus APAC are on the Tasmanian Lobbyists’ register and both list health companies among their clients.
The Liberal Party received $2.5m in 2022-23 and declared the sources of just over a fifth of the money.
The Labor Party declared even less of its $1m income, revealing two payments worth $38,315.
Parliament last year passed state-based electoral donations disclosure laws, which will require parties to declare donations of over $5000.
However the scheme is yet to be enacted.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff lashed the Liberals and Labor for their secrecy around donations.
The Greens regularly publish donations of over $1000.
“Labor’s track record on transparency is even worse than the shocking low of the Liberals. It’s not surprising then that Labor backed in the Liberals, voting to ensure new political donation laws would remain the weakest in the nation,” Dr Woodruff said.
“Instead of reporting donations year-round, which the Greens do on our website, both major parties treat the community with contempt. Tasmanians deserve to know which companies and individuals are influencing the decisions of both major parties.”
Donations for the current financial year will not be disclosed until next February.
Donations to the Tasmanian Liberals in 2022/23 declared in donor returns filed with the Australian Electoral Commission
Amazon: $13,200
Australia Pacific Airports Corporation: $14,300 (owns Launceston airport)
Australian Forest Products Association: $22,850 in three donations of $2850, $5700 and $14,300
Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia: $13,800
Customer Owned Banking Association: $14,300 in two donations of $7150
Ernst and Young: $17,600 in two donations of $3300 and $14,300
Financial Services Council: $16,500
Idameneo Limited: $9900
Insurance Australia Group Ltd: $4000
Macquarie Group: $13,2000 in two donations of $6600
Master Builders Australia: $7500
Medicines Australia: $13,200
Medtronic: $9200 in two donations of $2200 and $7000
MSD: $13,200 pharmaceuticals
National Advisory Pty Ltd: $15,400 in two donations of $14,300 and $1100 lobbyists
Nexus APAC: $15,925 in 12 donations of $1175, one donation of $1750 and one of $75 lobbyists
Organon Pharma: $12,600
QBE Insurance: $14,300
Registered Clubs Association NSW: $2200
Roche Products Pty Ltd: $13,200
SAP Australia: $9450
Pharmacy Guild: $22,000 in one donation of $20,000 and one of $2200
Westpac: $14,000
Secret Tasmanian political donation amounts revealed
The Tasmanian Liberals have retained their title as the most lavishly funded of the state’s political parties – but voters remain in the dark about exactly who is paying for our politicians.
State-based electoral donations disclosure laws passed through parliament last year, but are yet to come into effect.
It means the federal disclosure regimen remains in place and the vast bulk of donations will remain secret.
The threshold for disclosing the source of donations in the 2022-23 financial year is $15,200.
The Liberal Party received $2,534,093 in 2022-23 and declared the sources of $593,827 of that money.
Those receipts included $295,894 from the party’s national branch, $100,000 from the Gatenby Investment Fund and $22,000 from Google.
The source of the remaining $1.9m was not required to be declared by law
The Tasmanian Labor Party’s returns revealed just two payments of more than $15,200, one from the Australian Electoral Commission for $22,000 and $16,315 from the SDA – the union for retail, warehousing and fast food workers.
The party received a total of $1,024,757 for the financial year and declared the source of just $38,315.
The Tasmanian Greens return revealed the party received six payments ranging from $16,000 to 221,044 from the Australian Greens, for a total of $327,764. The documents disclosed total receipts of $456,596.
The Greens also voluntarily disclose all donations of more than $1500 on their website
The Jacqui Lambie Network declared receipts of $296,213 for the year, mostly made up of $149,419 from the Australian Electoral Commission.
And federal member for Clark Andrew Wilkie declared $1435 worth of donations. The Local Network declared none.
The new state laws contain two significant reforms: the establishment of a disclosure regime for donations of more than $5000 and public funding for election campaigns.
Independent MLC for Nelson Meg Webb called on the state government to enact the laws.
“In light of the unacceptable amount of undisclosed political donations in Tasmania highlighted via today’s federal annual returns, Premier Jeremy Rockliff must guarantee that public funding of House of Assembly election campaigns will not commence under the state’s new Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act until the donations disclosure regime is also in place,” she said.
“Once again, the release of the federal annual returns highlights the secrecy and opacity shrouding political donations, which a rigorous state-based disclosure system should expose but which sadly the Tasmanian Liberal and Labor parties did their best to avoid.
“Despite the sad fact the watered-down legislation passed last year will not provide Tasmanians with the degree of transparency they deserve, at the very least it should provide additional reporting requirements for parties and candidates, particularly during state election periods, but only if those sections of the Act commence.
“I challenge Premier Jeremy Rockliff to publicly guarantee that the new State Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act’s sections that provide taxpayer funding of Lower House election campaigns will not officially commence until the new donations disclosure regime is also implemented and enacted as law.”
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