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Help us have a look at who’s funding our political parties

Leo Shanahan

by Leo Shanahan

01 Feb 04:46pm

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Filed under: Aec, Donations, Labor Party, Liberal Party, Political Parties, Politics

15 comments

It’s reporting season for political parties in the 2008-09 financial year. Well in as much as political parties are forced to report in Australia.

The Australian's Lindsay

The Government’s recent decision to stall its much publicised reform of the process means that parties still don’t have to report donations of less than $10,900.

Liberals Senator Michael Ronaldson has been jumping up and down this afternoon about union donations to the Labor Party, totalling a hefty $5.14 million Australia-wide.

But for all the Liberals complaints about union funding, Labor are now voluntarily disclosing donations of over $1000 and making their list of disclosures a lot longer than the Coalition.

The Liberals largest corporate donations were Westfield who coughed up $100,000, ANZ with $50,00 and Coca Cola Amatil $40,000, but federal Labor are still wiping the floor with the federal Liberals in revenue.

The federal ALP had receipts worth $6.2 million last year and about $43 million including state branches, compared to federal Liberals $38.3 million Australia-wide and just $3 million for the federal branch. The National Party brought in just $5.2 million around Australia with about $700,000 for the federal party, but it was figure somewhat distorted by the founding of the Liberal Nationals in Queensland who had about $12.3 million in receipts.

Not surprisingly both major parties are in debt with federal Labor owing just over $7 million and the federal Liberals owing $4.2 million.

Needless to say this is not a summary that does the weight of the donations information much justice, so we are asking you to have a look for yourself and tell us what’s of concern to you.

The AEC website has some really good tools to enable you to sort the declarations by party state and federal branches, as well by those donating.

Let us know what what donations you find concerning or just interesting and in we’ll endeavor to publish a piece in the next few days taking in and crediting your observations.

Send your comments and findings to feedback (at) thepunch.com.au or post them down below.

Here’s one to look at for starters.

Laurence Kung individually donated $100,000 to the federal Labor Party in 2008-09. The Age reported last year that Mr Kung had refused six summons to return back to Taiwan to testify in the corruption trial of former Taiwanese President and friend Chen Shui-bian.

Mr Kung has been linked to a Taiwanese Government fund to support Taiwanese recognition in Asia and the South Pacific that Mr Chen has been accused of misusing. Mr Kung also flew Kevin Rudd on a business class trip to London for two weeks in 2005. 

Obviously Mr Kung’s money is still good.

Most commented

15 comments

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    • BigBob says:

      04:13pm | 01/02/10

      The Union is the members of that union, for example tradesman and nurses, teachers, ect. The delegates represent us. Many Australian workers are happy to donate to the Labor Party. Just as I am sure many Liberal fatcats are happy to toss $ to the Liberal Party. But on reading that list,  I guess I will now drink Pepsi. If I wanted my funds to go to The Liberals I would donate myself.

      Reply

    • Eric says:

      05:07pm | 01/02/10

      The Union is not “the members”, it’s the fat cats at the top of the Union hierarchy. They care nothing for the workers, but only for their careers as they scale the ladders of the Labor Party.

      Interesting to see that the ALP gets more money from donations than the Libs do.

    • Joe says:

      05:58pm | 01/02/10

      Do the unions have a field on the membership form:
      What % of your membership fee would you like going directky to the ALP or for campaigning for the ALP?
      they certainly should.

      Reply

    • Steve of Cornubia says:

      07:18pm | 01/02/10

      Direct donations to political parties, already showing a heavy tilt in favour of Labour, are only part of the story. Wait for the election campaigning to start this year and you will see, apart from Labour’s adverts, plenty of Labour-friendly advertising paid for by the unions. This doesn’t count as ‘Labour’ propoganda, at least as far as the media are concerned, but sure as hell it’s aimed at electing a Labour Government and so fulfills the same purpose.

      So if you add Labour’s own spend to that of the unions, you will see a huge difference in propoganda budget, so large on Labour’s part that, combines with all the free support they get from the ABC SBS and the other media, it makes me wonder how the hell the Liberals ever get their message across. I can only surmise that the Australian people are smarter than pollies give them credit for. Maybe Labour’s financial and social incompetence and factional in-fighting creates more concern than the billions of dollars in propoganda they and the unions fund pay for can dispel.

      Reply

    • Davido says:

      10:30pm | 01/02/10

      Steve you are incorrect about support from the ABC and SBS for the left.

      The only independent research on this shows that the Liberal party get more positive to negative mentions than Labor. The only exception is Radio National where the ratio was dead even.

      It is time this fallacy was put to bed.

      As to transparency, in my opinion everything should be open and exposed. Lets look at who the real pied pipers.

    • Darren says:

      07:46am | 02/02/10

      Why does the Liberal Party keep taking donations from British American Tobacco? I wonder if it has anything to do with the relationship between Bede Fennell and the upper echelons of the Liberal Party

      Reply

    • Zeta says:

      07:49pm | 01/02/10

      democracy4sale.org

      it pains me to link anyone to a website owned by The Greens, but it’s admittedly the best resource for people living in NSW & SA to find out where their money is really going.

      Reply

    • Paul says:

      08:18pm | 01/02/10

      Joe

      Not at all. They just assume given the disproportionate number of union officials within the labor party that they will get whatever they want down the track. Many a union boss would give a donation in order to be later elevated into preselection for a safe labor seat, all at the expense of their members. After all Thatcher kicked them out of the UK and many found the plane trip to AUS splendid indeed.

      Most members would probably rather pay lower fees, or not have this type of underhanded deal done, but the labor party prides itself on corruption and/or dodgy deals. The ICAC enquiry in NSW is currently going over deals for property delevopers, and guess what Graham Richardsons name is mentioned as is Frank Sartor.

      Publicans I know claim to have done a deal with (a minister) back when Carr won government to allow pokie machines and the hoteliers would tell everyone to vote labor, and as a result the hotel industry now is one of NSW state labors biggest donors, whether by individual pubs or fundraising dinners at 1000 per head.

      It is a joke, however I am sure the libs have similar fundraisers, its just that at a state level they have not been in power for a while and labor have been given the brown paper bags from delevopers.

      Reply

    • Joe Blog's says:

      02:26am | 02/02/10

      Democracy at work?

      This isn’t exactly federal politics but I truly feel everyone should read this article. I’m so disgusted by the SA Labor party. I really don’t know what to say I’m that livid and that disappointed in the road the ALP are going down in this country.

      http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26665381-5006301,00.html

      The SA government is now an authoritarian regime that will do anything to keep power from selling state properties to the catholic church for far less than market value, selling public parks to cashed up developers while giving the people a new park which is an old factory site on contaminated land, to banning the covers of all R rated DVD’s in video stores regardless of genre to this, trying to stamp out public debate during the election campaign.

      Anyone that lives here knows what disclosing your full name and postcode on the internet during the election campaign will mean. Our far-right Attorney-General has a well documented history of chasing down anyone to try and win a political point from turning up on their doorsteps to ringing them at home when he feels like it. Independent MP David Winderlich recently under parliamentary privilege made some pretty damning allegations about Atkinson and the levels of initimidatory tactics he will stoop too.

      What has happened to the Labor Party (both SA & Federally (mandatory internet filter) in this country? Why are they prepared to do absolutely anything to keep the Christian Right on side? I just can’t vote for either of them anymore.

      Reply

    • Lisa says:

      06:52am | 02/02/10

      Surprise surprise - despite having higher revenues, the Labor party is in more debt than the Liberals.

      Reply

    • Badger says:

      02:43pm | 02/02/10

      I think there is a bit of skimming off the top by Officials to keep up their life styles they have put themselves in.

    • Martin Luther says:

      07:46am | 02/02/10

      Rubbish Davido, you obviously know nothing about politics. The perceptions created by the media are what count and these are predominantly left in tone and content. The negative/positive word counts invented in left wing university departments are a manufactured distraction from the real efforts of the media to support the political left.

      Reply

    • righto says:

      09:54am | 02/02/10

      theyre all prostitutes, it would be immoral to vote for any of them…  and martin luther.. look at all the media influence rupert murdoch has in this country,,  ( thepunch? ) you think hes a leftie?

      Reply

    • AJ says:

      10:07am | 02/02/10

      I may be a bit of a nerd for looking up the AEC website, but could someone with, you know, journalistic resources tell me why the Citizens Electoral Council received 1.8 million in funding in 08/09?

      I mean, as entertaining as their diatribes against the British Empire controlling the world drug trade are, how the hell can they get more money than any non-Labor/Liberal party?!

      Reply

    • DebraSnow says:

      10:09am | 11/01/11

      Do you recognize that it is correct time to receive the loans, which would make your dreams come true.

      Reply
 
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