Labor has slammed Malcolm Turnbull's personal $1.75 million donation to the Liberal party promised during the 2016 election campaign, accusing the multimillionaire Prime Minister of having "basically bought himself an election".
Mr Turnbull has spent more than six months refusing to say how much he donated to the party, before revealing the figure on the ABC's 7.30 program on Wednesday evening.
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"I've always been prepared to put my money where my mouth is," Mr Turnbull said on the program.
The Prime Minister said it was consistent with his and his wife Lucy's long history of philanthropy.
"I put my money into ensuring we didn't have a Labor government. I put my money into the Liberal Party's campaign," he said.
The admission was swiftly slammed by the opposition, with Labor's finance spokesman Jim Chalmers accusing Mr Turnbull of securing his position with his dollars.
"No wonder Malcolm Turnbull was so desperate to keep his secret – he basically bought himself an election," Mr Chalmers said.
"I think the Australian people will be shocked by this admission – it stinks. Malcolm Turnbull had to buy his way out of trouble in the dying days of his disastrous election campaign.
"If Malcolm Turnbull didn't have $1.75 million in his back pocket he wouldn't be the leader of the Liberal Party – and he wouldn't be Prime Minister."
Shadow Finance Minister Jim Chalmers. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Treasurer Scott Morrison defended the donation.
"That's a grubby political smear from a grubby political hack, of a party of hacks led by Bill Shorten," he told ABC radio on Thursday.
"I've known the Prime Minister for almost 20 years and he and Lucy have been generous and humble contributors to many great causes... whether it's political parties or hospitals or homelessness or things like that."
The immediate response to the admission from Mr Turnbull's own party was mixed, with one Liberal MP appearing to mock the Prime Minister's donation.
"The PM is known for his investment skill and judgment – and a one seat majority shows it was a good investment," said western Sydney backbench Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who is philosophically at odds with the Prime Minister over issues like climate change and same-sex marriage.
But the Prime Minister's assistant minister Angus Taylor, who is in London examining the UK's success in driving smart cities, told Fairfax Media it was a good thing that Mr Turnbull was willing to back himself.
"He's put his money where his mouth is and that's a good thing," he said, echoing Mr Turnbull's own defence of what is the largest ever political donation in Australia's history. Previously the highest donation made was a $1.6 million donation to the Greens by Wotif founder Graeme Wood.
In an address to the National Press Club just hours before his appearance on 7.30, Mr Turnbull said he supported real-time disclosure of political donations but refused to detail his own contribution. The Prime Minister's mega donation was made after June 30 cut-off date, meaning it would have remained secret for another year if he had not chosen to confirm it on Wednesday evening.
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