Former Turnbull government minister Stuart Robert asked his party to help fund the campaigns of two of his staffers in last year's Gold Coast election to keep Labor off his turf, a corruption probe has heard.
Independent candidates Kristyn Boulton and Felicity Stevenson each received a total $30,000 from the Fadden Fund - a fundraising arm of the Liberal National Party.
Ms Boulton told a public Crime and Corruption Commission hearing on Tuesday that Mr Robert said in January he would "stump up some funds" to help her campaign.
The following month she noticed deposits of $10,000 and $15,000 into her campaign account.
"I thought it was very generous," Ms Boulton said.
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Ms Boulton said she later "chased" Mr Robert for a further $5000 to help fund a last-minute mail-out to stop Labor-aligned councillor Eddy Sarroff gaining traction in her division.
"He said 'yes, I'll work it out'," she recounted.
Ms Boulton said it wasn't until after the election when she looked at her bank statements that she realised Mr Robert's contributions had come from the Fadden Fund.
Overall the Fund's contributions made up two-thirds of her donations.
Ms Boulton conceded people may assume her independence had been "seriously compromised" from receiving the money.
"I put what I was told to put (on my disclosure form)," she said.
"I had no reason to distrust the advice I was getting.
"Something that I have to wear is perhaps I've been a little naive."
Ms Boulton worked in Mr Robert's electorate office for nine years before taking leave in January 2016 to run in the election.
Her colleague Ms Stevenson, who left at the same time after almost 10 years, was unsuccessful in her bid against Australian Workers' Union advocate Stacey Schinnerl.
Mr Robert said he originally asked for each candidate to get $25,000 but sought a further $5000 for both when Ms Boulton asked for it.
"It's a bit like buying a toy for one child and not the other one," Mr Robert said.
Mr Robert, who was still part of the ministry at the time, said he told Ms Boulton and Ms Stevenson at a meeting in his office on Australia Day week that he would seek permission for the Fadden Fund to help their campaigns.
"I can't spend a cent without the LNP approval," he said.
"The idea of Labor getting a foothold in my part of the northern Gold Coast wasn't particularly appealing.
"Whilst $60,000 is a lot of money by community standards, if the Labor party gets a foothold I'll have to spend a lot more money defending our ideas."
Queensland's local government system is predominantly made up of independents, with the exception of the Brisbane City Council.
The CCC investigation, known as Operation Belcarra, was launched in September last year after a spike in funding and disclosure allegations in the Gold Coast, Moreton Bay and Ipswich council elections.
The public hearing is expected to run over two weeks and hear from up to 25 witnesses including all three mayors from the affected councils.
