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Malcolm Turnbull prepares to overhaul donations system but refuses to reveal his own contribution

Adam Gartrell
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Malcolm Turnbull is preparing to ban foreign donations to Australian political parties and improve transparency around campaign financing in a bid to restore faltering public trust in the system.

But the Prime Minister has been accused of "rank hypocrisy" for backing a better disclosure regime while refusing to reveal how much of his own money he contributed to the Liberal Party's re-election fight.

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Transparency, but not quite yet

Malcolm Turnbull says he supports the speedy publication of political donations - then declines to reveal his own donations made during last year's election campaign. Courtesy ABC News 24.

Reports suggest Mr Turnbull donated up to $2 million to the troubled Coalition campaign – a claim he has never denied – but there was no sign of the contribution in Australian Electoral Commission returns covering the 2015-16 financial year released Wednesday. 

It's now believed the donation may have been made after June 30, meaning it will not be detailed until this time next year - a full 20 months after the July 2 election.

While making no firm commitment to deliver reform, Mr Turnbull said the public would back a ban on foreign donations because they wanted to be confident there was no outside interference in local elections. He also threw his support behind changes to the disclosures regime, such as real-time reporting.

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But pressed to voluntarily reveal his own donation, Mr Turnbull was coy.

"My donations to the Liberal Party have been regular and generous and I would encourage others to do the same," he told the National Press Club. "And they've always been disclosed in accordance with the law."

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Labor's Amanda Rishworth accused Mr Turnbull of "rank hypocrisy".

"This issue will hang around the neck of the Prime Minister until he finally declares the donation or he gets knocked off as leader – whichever one comes first," she said.

The Liberal Party declared $14.7m in donations for the 2015-16 financial year, while Labor declared $10.4m, mostly from the unions.

The flow of donations hit its peak right at the end of June, just before polling day - suggesting money would have continued to come in after the disclosure cut-off date, to be included in next year's returns.

Mining businessman Paul Marks was the biggest single donor to any party, personally giving $1.3 million to the Liberal Party. It is believed to be the second biggest personal donation in Australian history, behind Graeme Wood's $1.6 million donation to the Greens in 2010.

Mr Marks is a controversial figure, closely linked to government MP Stuart Robert. Mr Robert was sacked from the frontbench last year after being accused of using his ministerial office to open doors for Mr Marks and his companies in China. Mr Marks' companies contributed a further $150,000.

Mr Wood – the wealthy founder of travel website Wotif – was also a major donor this year, giving another $636,000 to the Greens, making him their primary benefactor. Reclusive mathematician, investor and high-end gambler Duncan Turpie was also a big contributor to the Greens, giving $500,000.

Top Education Group donated more than $48,000 to the Liberal Party and $23,000 to the Labor Party during the financial year. Labor's Sam Dastyari was forced to resign from the frontbench last year after it emerged he asked the company to pay a bill for him - a controversy that put foreign donations firmly in the spotlight.

Foreign donations were down on previous years, according to the AEC data, but several other prominent China-linked figures donated.

Property company Hong Kong Kingson gave $710,000 to the Liberals and $150,000 to Labor. The firm is run by Australian-Chinese property billionaire Chau Chak Wing, who donates six-figure sums most years.

Sally Zou, a Chinese mining and steel mogul who owns Aus Gold Mining and whose extended family has strong links to the Chinese government, donated $402,000 to the Liberals.

The Waratah Group, a Chinese-Australian company with interests in mining and property development, also gave the party $300,000.

And well-connected businessman Huang Xiangmo's Yuhu Group, another property developer, donated about $200,000 mostly to the Liberal Party through various linked companies. Another businessman, Lawrence Luo, who is very close to Mr Huang, gave $50,000 to Labor in NSW.


The major parties also accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the gambling lobby.

The Nationals took $14,800 from big tobacco company Philip Morris, despite recently saying the party had not accepted any such donations since 2014. Philip Morris also donated $20,000 to the libertarian Liberal Democrats.

The Health Services Union was Labor's biggest single benefactor, giving $389,232.

Pratt Holdings gave to both parties – but $830,000 to the Liberals and just $20,000 to Labor.

The Greens say the total amount of declared donations and payments made to Australian political parties since 1998 has now topped $1 billion.