Gina Rinehart helped Liberals raise nearly $400,000 at exclusive dinner that led to wrongful dismissal claim

Donors paid up to $25,000 to hear Rinehart speak at the dinner in Melbourne, according to the event’s organiser, Nadine Jones, who has made a wrongful dismissal claim against the Victorian Liberal party. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart helped the Liberal party raise almost $400,000 at an exclusive dinner on the eve of the federal election campaign, the event’s organiser has revealed, but fallout from the function has left the party embroiled in a public dispute.

Donors paid up to $25,000 to hear Rinehart speak at the 26 March dinner in Melbourne, which has been described as “the party’s most successful event in more than five years”.