Donations laws rushed through at 5am after all-nighter in parliament

Victoria has reformed its political donations laws after Labor won cross-support to fast-track the legislation through parliament earlier on Friday, despite the coalition and independents threatening to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The highest court in the country threw away state campaign finances The April 15 rulemaking, in a lawsuit brought by two former independent candidates, leaves Victoria without grant laws ahead of state elections in November.

Prime Minister Jacinta Allan at a press conference on Monday.Simon Schluter

Allan’s government won the support of a range of MPs to pass the new laws during an all-night parliamentary session that ended just after 5am on Friday.

The law limits donations to $7,500 per donor in each four-year election cycle and requires disclosure of all donations of $1,250 or more.

New parties and independent candidates will have a higher cap of $15,000 to help level the playing field with incumbents.

Foreign donations will also be banned once again.

The Supreme Court decision in April stemmed from exemptions allowing investment funds known as “nominated entities” to provide unlimited support to the Labor, Liberal and National parties, which independents argued gave them an unfair advantage.

The coalition did not support the new laws and said donation rules should also apply to membership fees unions pay to become members of the Labor Party.

“The passage of the Electoral Amendment Bill 2026 represents a disgraceful attempt by Labor to rig the system in their favour,” shadow attorney general James Newbury said in a statement on Friday.

“These dangerous new laws cut off money to Labour’s political opponents, while gold continues to flow to Labor from the CFMEU and the unions.”

Newbury said the Coalition was considering its legal options. Western Party founder Paul Hopper, one of the plaintiffs who successfully had the previous laws ruled unconstitutional, also signaled another legal challenge.

Under the rules, Labor and the Coalition will be required to return unspent funds transferred from their nominated organizations to their campaign accounts between 25 November 2018 and 18 April this year, but not the funds they have already spent.