Calls for greater transparency over political donations

A new report reveals around a billion dollars' worth of donations over the past two decades are from hidden donors, prompting calls for greater transparency. It comes as the Electoral Commission releases new donation data, showing just five donors contributed to almost half of all political donations over the past year.

Parliament house at night Source: SBS

Political parties in Australia received a total of 168 million dollars in donations for the 2019-20 financial year.

Almost 50 per cent of all federal political donations over the last 12 months came from just four companies and one industry group.

The largest single donor was billionaire Clive Palmer's Mineralogy, which gave 5.9 million dollars to the mining magnate's own United Australia Party.

Other major donors included Pratt Holdings, which gave 1.55 million dollars; Woodside Energy - over 335,000 dollars; More than a quarter of a million dollars from the Macquarie Group; and nearly as much from the Australian Hotels Association.

The Centre of Public Integrity says over the last two decades 35 per cent of all donations - about one billion dollars' worth - came from unknown sources.

 

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