Clive Palmer’s mining company, Mineralogy, has again topped the list of political donors, funnelling $7.1m into his one-senator party, the United Australia party, in the year after the federal election.
Annual political returns, released by the Australian Electoral Commission on Thursday, show Palmer gave 10 donations to the minor political party over the course of the year totalling $7.1m. The United Australia party, which has one elected member in the senate, then spent $2.5m during the 2022-23 financial year.
The major parties reported $210.7m in donations and other receipts – which include fees to attend the parties’ business forums, public funding from the AEC and other payments.
The release of the data has prompted integrity advocates to again push for electoral reforms ahead of the next federal election, expected by mid-2025, saying the “lags and loopholes” undermined integrity in Australian politics.
The Albanese government has previously pledged to introduce spending and donation caps and real-time donation disclosure, as revealed by Guardian Australia after the 2022 election and confirmed by a parliamentary inquiry that reported in July 2023.
Labor received $84.4m, the Liberal party $112.7m and the Nationals $13.6m.
The Greens recorded $25.6m for the year, an increase of $3m on the federal election year.
Labor’s publicly disclosed figure was almost $220m – a $100m increase on the previous year’s sum – but this was due to an error by the ACT branch which reported it had raked in $136.5m. When contacted by Guardian Australia they said it was a typographical error and an amendment to reduce the final figure to $1.3m would be submitted to the AEC.
Donations over the amount of $15,200 require public disclosure while those under the threshold are added to total amounts but their identities remain hidden.
Other top donors post-federal election included the Cormack Foundation, a Liberal-aligned funding body, who donated $3.5m million to the party.
The Liberal party also received $2.7m from Vapold Pty Ltd, and $1.3m from 281 Sandgate Road Properties Pty Ltd, which is registered as having the same address as the Liberal National party.
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting also gave $150,000 to the Liberal party.
Labor was the recipient of millions of dollars in union receipts and donations. Labor recorded receiving $947,148 from the United Workers Union, $554,601 from the retail union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association, and $256,168 from the NSW branch of the Australian Workers Union.
Billionaire Anthony Pratt donated a $1m sum to Labor through his company, Pratt Holdings.
Since 1998, Pratt Holdings has donated $15.9m to political parties with $10.1m directed toward the Coalition and $5.5m for Labor.
The Greens received two donations from the David Walsh Estate totalling $437,000.
Investor and environmental advocate, Marcus Catsaras, was the single largest individual donor, donating $1m to the teal-funding group, Climate 200.
Consulting giant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, increased its donations by 50% to $369,973 over the year, with $224,006 of it going to Labor.
Ernst and Young also increased its donations by 75% to $227,853 – the majority of it, or $186,732, to Labor - while Deloitte and KPMG’s donations decreased year-on-year to $177,126 and $163,200 respectively.
Beyond the major political parties, significant third parties also raked in donations despite it not being a federal election year.
Advance Australia, the conservative lobby group which played a key role in the no campaign during the voice referendum, doubled its receipts to $5.2m.
Its biggest donor was a Perth-based company, Hadley Holdings, which handed over more than a million to the group.
According to Advance’s declaration, $4.5m was spent on electoral expenditure over the financial year, which included the months leading up to the referendum.
Heston Russell, a former SAS solider who was found to have been defamed by the ABC, donated $650,000 to his own Australian Values Party, which was de-registered in August 2023.
Bill Browne, the Australia Institute’s democracy and accountability program director, said lag in data being released, some of it 18 months old, highlighted a lack of transparency and integrity in Australian politics.
“These lags and other loopholes make it difficult to see how politicians and political parties are being funded – and by whom,” he said.
“With Parliament resuming next week, this is a wake-up call that 2024 is the last chance for meaningful democratic reform ahead of the 2025 election.”
The special minister of state, Don Farrell, confirmed in October he was still in discussions with all political parties to “try and get some consensus” about increasing transparency and accountability in the federal electoral system.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, told reporters on Thursday it remained “the Labor view” and that lowering the donation threshold and proving information faster to the community was “something [Labor] should focus on”.
Greens senator, Larissa Waters, urged the government to release further details about how it will deliver its election promises.
