Political donations: Rise in 'dark money' prompts calls for reform

The Australian Electoral Commission's annual dump of political donations data on Tuesday has renewed calls for sweeping reform, including a lowering of the disclosure threshold and real-time reporting of contributions.

In the 2020-21 financial year, donations only had to be disclosed if they were worth more than $14,300.

The threshold will rise to $14,500 this financial year, in line with the consumer price index.

That high bar, which compares to a $1000 threshold in the ACT, means a donor can make a significant financial contribution to a political party without their identity being revealed.

Analysis of the latest donations data by the Australian Conservation Foundation found more than $62 million worth of receipts reported by Labor, Liberal, Nationals and Greens party branches in 2020-21 were from unknown sources.

That represented more than 37 per cent of the $165 million in funding reported by the major parties, up from 32 per cent in the previous financial year.

About 43 per cent of the Liberals' receipts were from unknown sources, compared to 30 per cent from Labor, 49 per cent from the Nationals and 48 per cent from the Greens, according to the conservation foundation's analysis.

Receipts include donations as well as other sources of income, including from the electoral commission.

Bill Browne, a senior researcher at the Australia Institute's democracy and accountability program, described the lack of transparency around donations as "distressing" given what he saw as the increasing role of money in politics.

Mr Browne said donations could be used to gain direct access to a minister, whether it be at a fundraising event or in a face-to-face meeting.

"The reality of gaining access is it can be extremely valuable to put your case directly to a minister and it's not a benefit that most ordinary Australians have, or even most groups of concerned citizens have, at their disposal," he said.

Mr Browne backed calls for a $1000 disclosure threshold as well as real-time publication of donations. Under current rules, donations made in the crucial months before this year's federal election won't be made public until months after polling day.

"Knowing what donations are coming in at the same time that ministers are making decisions would either help confirm that there's no impropriety involved, or give people a prompt to dig deeper and see if there's something of concern there," he said.

The figures published on Tuesday showed the Coalition entered the federal election year with larger campaign coffers than Labor, thanks in part to $1.28 million worth of donations from billionaire businessman Anthony Pratt.

Liberals and Nationals together reported more than $83 million in receipts in 2020-21, compared to Labor's $66 million.

The figures represent the total sum of receipts from the party's state, territory and national branches.

Fossil fuel companies and their representative bodies continue to be prolific donors to the Coalition and Labor.

Woodside Energy was the largest fossil fuel industry donor, handing $124,000 to the Liberals and $108,000 to Labor. The Minerals Council of Australia, peak petroleum body APPEA and Trevor St Baker also made six-figure donations.

Echoing Mr Browne's comments, Australian Conservation Foundation's democracy campaigner Jolene Elberth said donations granted access to politicians which, over time, translated to influence.

"The problem feeds itself: as political parties rely on big donations to run their election campaigns, they have an interest in not putting their donors offside, even when doing so is in the public interest."

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She said lowering the disclosure threshold, capping donations and requiring more frequent reporting would "vastly" improve the integrity of Australia's political system.

The Greens have been among the strongest advocates for reform, with their freshly unveiled election platform including a policy to ban donations from fossil fuel companies and cap donations at $1000 a year for all donors.

Greens democracy spokeswoman Larissa Waters said the data published on Tuesday showed that "big money runs politics, it's legalised corruption".

"Coal and gas, banks, pokies, alcohol, private health sectors all feature heavily. Is it any wonder those sectors are poorly regulated and get billions in taxpayer handouts?" she said.

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