Queensland has never been so relevant to federal politics, and the latest political donations data shows it.
Money flowed generously into the coffers of the Queensland branches of the major parties ahead of the state election in October. But it wasn’t always a case of money winning votes.
Once again Queensland was home to the country’s biggest donor, Clive Palmer. Palmer’s company Mineralogy pumped nearly $6 million into his spoiler United Australia Party campaign. The party failed to win even 1% of the vote, even after bombarding voters with ads dominated by unsubstantiated claims of a Labor “death tax”.
The LNP was also plump with cash, with a $10.3 million war chest of disclosed donor payments. Sunshine Coast developer Altum Property Group handed over $1.6 million, making it the biggest single contributor to the party.
Altum has been lobbying the government over a $2 billion development on Great Keppel Island in Central Queensland. Businessman Geoffrey Thomas also handed the party $50,000.
Labor went into the election with $7.7 million in disclosed donations. Its biggest donors were the United Workers Union ($201,000), the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ union ($185,000) and the Australian Workers’ Union of Employees Queensland ($113,000). It disclosed almost no corporate donations.
The Queensland Greens received $2.8 million, with the biggest single contribution coming from Duncan Turpie, a professional gambler and “secretive maths genius” who handed the party $100,000.
The Greens managed to steal the only seat lost by Labor on election night — the seat of former deputy premier Jackie Trad in South Brisbane.
“The Greens managed to steal the only seat lost by Labor on election night”
Seriously Georgia? *Steal*?
My thought also, although to be fair she no doubt meant it in a political sense which has its own jargon. On the other hand she could have been dissing the Greens.
The seat was very marginal, add the kerfuffle about a house and a high school principal and Labor lost the seat.
Very dishonest of them to steal a seat. An honest party would tell the voters whatever they wanted to hear so they would vote the right way. I mean the Right way.
Firstly, I would like to know the total donation pot. Secondly I would like to know who got what. Thirdly, I would like to know why ANY donation to a political party should not be publicly declared within 24 hours of receipt.
As an observation I would think campaigns like that of the egregious Palmer will increasingly devalue all political advertising. Over time, flagrant mendacity will engender overwhelming scepticism.
The Labor Party finally got the courage up to call Clive Palmer’s death tax for what it was, a lie.
Clive and Pauline’s vote just evaporated.
It was a pity that the Labor Party thought ,in the last federal election that it was safer to ignore the death tax lies on social media than it was to call them for what they were, lies.
Ratty, The fact is that the only way the L/NP were re elected was on the back of Hanson/ Palmer preferences.
A lot of seats were marginal and it was Palmer/ Hanson that got them over the line aka member for Manila in Christensen along with a few others in Vic/ W.A.