As they gear up for an election year, the Liberal and Labor parties and their state branches raked in more than $64 million each.
As they gear up for an election year, the Liberal and Labor parties and their state branches raked in more than $64 million each.
By Paul Sakkal
Updated February 3, 2025 — 1.00pmfirst published at 9.57am
Billionaire packaging king Anthony Pratt tipped $1 million into Anthony Albanese’s campaign fund around the time the prime minister attended a Katy Perry concert at Pratt’s house.
Pratt’s outlay was the single biggest donation as familiar faces dominated the top echelon of political donors in the past financial year, with climate activists continuing to heavily bankroll the teal independent movement.
The Australian Electoral Commission on Monday morning released data showing money raised and spent by Australian political parties and campaign organisations for the 2023-24 financial year.
Investors Rob Keldoulis and Marcus Catsaras were the strongest backers of the teal movement last year, donating more than $1 million each throughout the year to Climate 200, making them the joint-largest donors in the country.
Pratt, the Visy chief who supported US President Donald Trump’s campaign last year, gave $1 million to the Labor Party in January 2024. Pratt has also donated millions to the Liberal Party in previous years.
The next month, he held a private event at his Raheen mansion at which Perry performed to a crowd of influential business and political leaders, including the prime minister. At the time, this masthead reported Pratt’s hosting of the event would likely coincide with a large donation.
As they gear up for an election year, the Liberal and Labor parties and their state branches raked nearly identical amounts, more than $64 million each. Labor’s national office took in $15 million compared to the Liberal’s $11 million.
Climate 200, which funds the teal movement, received $5.9 million.
Of Climate 200’s donations, $144,000 and $122,000 went to Melbourne MPs Zoe Daniels and Monique Ryan, respectively, indicating the intensity of their local battles with Liberal candidates. Less than $80,000 went to each of the Sydney teal MPs.
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The figures include donations, public funding from the AEC and some other types of payments that are not donations.
Other figures rounding out the top 10 donors include mathematician and long-time Greens donor Duncan Turpie who gave more than $900,000 to the Greens and $300,000 to Climate 200.
William Taylor Nominees, a private company directed by venture capital investor James Taylor, gave $533,000 to the teal movement; First Australians Capital gave $500,000 to GetUp!; Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting gave $500,000 to Coalition parties; Climate 200 provided $432,000 to teal MPs; and the Pharmacy Guild donated $402,000 to various branches of both major parties.
The biggest donors to Labor were Labor Holdings Pty Ltd ($1.04 million), the United Workers Union ($1.02 million), and Pratt.
The Coalition’s biggest were Vapold ($4.9 million) and the Cormack Foundation ($1.17 million), two of the party’s associated entities.
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Analysis from the Centre for Public Integrity showed $74.2 million in “dark money” flowing into political parties from sources that are kept secret, highlighting the opacity of the current system of political disclosure.
The Albanese government has put forward a proposal to drastically cap political donations, create real-time disclosure of such payments, and limit the amount a candidate can spend in a seat. The changes are designed to curb the influence of big money in politics.
The draft legislation is on the agenda for the upcoming parliamentary sitting week. The Greens and teals have expressed scepticism about the changes because they worry the package is designed to aid the major parties.
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Paul Sakkal is federal political correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald who previously covered Victorian politics and has won two Walkley awards.Connect via Twitter.
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