By Peter Hartcher, originally published by SMH on the 16th of February 2021. You could be forgiven for thinking that the Bergin report that damned Crown casinos last week was only about greed and crime. It was not. It’s bad enough that Crown casinos effectively had become bankers to some of the world’s worst crime… Read More
‘Hidden money’: $50m flows in secret political donations
By Tom McIilroy, originally published in the Australian Financial Review on the 15th of February 2021. The nation’s major political parties took in $50 million in donations from unknown sources last financial year, with new analysis showing 30 per cent of all income amounts to “hidden money”. Read more here.
$50 million in secret political donations
RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly, originally broadcast on Monday the 15th of February. A new analysis of political donations shows that the major parties raked in almost $50 million last year from unknown sources. The problem is mainly due to the disclosure laws – any donation of below $14,300 does not have to be identified.… Read More
Interrogating government integrity
By Lisa Davies, originally published in Fairfax on the 12th of February 2021. Political donations, government grants programs, and allegations of pork-barrelling. It didn’t take long for 2021 to reveal a significant theme for this year – the integrity of our system of government. In mid-January, chief political correspondent David Crowe ignited this issue when… Read More
Federal Labor Party scrutiny on Crown donations after damning report
By Paul Sakkal, Patrick Hatch and Katina Curtis, originally published on the 11th of February 2021. The federal Labor Party will consider banning donations from Crown in light of a NSW report that found the company enabled money-laundering by criminals at its Melbourne casino. The company, which runs casinos in Melbourne and Perth, donated $1.78 million to federal political… Read More
Hidden political donations hit record high
By David Crowe, originally published by the Sydney Morning Herald on the 14th of February 2021. Federal political parties received $50 million in unexplained cash last year in another sign of the trend towards secretive donations. The “hidden money” – revealed in new analysis that calls for tougher disclosure laws so voters can know the… Read More
‘I take responsibility’: McKenzie doesn’t know who changed grants list
By Katrina Curtis, originally published by the Sydney Morning Herald on the 12th of February 2021. Former minister Bridget McKenzie doesn’t know who in her office changed a list of sports club projects receiving taxpayer money after she signed off on it and wouldn’t tell a parliamentary inquiry whether she had tried to find out.… Read More
7:30: Peter Dutton slashed funding for highly regarded community safety projects. Then he selected his own list to fund
By Paul Farrell and Alex McDonald, originally published by the ABC’s 7:30 on 11 February 2021.
Critics blame ‘sickening’ rules after hidden political donations worth $1 billion are revealed
By Tom Stayner, originally published by SBS on the 1st of February 2021. Critics are calling for an overhaul of Australia’s electoral finance laws after a new analysis revealed political parties had pocketed more than $1 billion in “hidden donations” over the past two decades. The Centre for Public Integrity has warned that a creeping trend towards… Read More
Major political donors data revealed
Originally published by ABC 7:30 The Australian Electoral Commission has released its annual disclosure on who is behind the biggest political donations