Wealthy donors abandon Liberals for One Nation
One Nation has been raising funds from wealthy businessmen who had previously only donated to the Liberal Party ahead of the Victorian state election, but concerns remain over whether the rival party’s disorganization could overshadow its fundraising efforts.
Melbourne’s private property developers are leading the charge, pledging large sums of money to One Nation in exchange for advocacy on key policy areas, including some controversial property taxes introduced by the Allan government.
Entrepreneurs affiliated with successful small and medium-sized businesses are also throwing money at the party in return for One Nation, which has strongly opposed small business bureaucracy and the government’s work-from-home policy ahead of the November election.
The shift in support from big wealthy donors was confirmed by five sources familiar with the Liberal Party’s fundraising activities in the province, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A similar trend has been noted at the federal level, where the party led by Pauline Hanson has the support of billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart and stockbroker Angus Aitken. One Nation’s federal Fire the Liar campaign targeting Anthony Albanese has already raised $5 million.
There are concerns about how One Nation can book hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations without running afoul of donation laws.
Only two donations to One Nation’s Victorian arm totaling $6239 were disclosed in the Victorian Electoral Commission’s live database, raising questions about how and where One Nation received its state campaign donations.
Then there were already questions about the management of campaign finances. Age It emerged that Nepean by-election candidate Darren Hercus was instructed to use his personal bank account to receive donations; The party vehemently denied these allegations.
It is also unclear whether donations from wealthy Victorians were officially received and directed to the state or federal arm of the party.
Delays in announcements may also be due to donations being pledged to candidates who have not yet been confirmed or delayed until reforms to state donation caps are determined in early June.
There are also ways in which donations can be channeled through various structures to limit the level of disclosure.
One Nation plans to field up to 100 candidates in the state election, but there are fears it will lose some of the donations and support it has pledged due to disorganization within its own ranks.
The party does not currently have a state leader or any state-based fundraising trust and operates from a small warehouse in Pakenham. Liberal Party provincial executive Colleen Harkin, who recently left the party and joined One Nation, is seen as a strong candidate.
It has also yet to officially endorse its candidates for the November election as it reviews 1,200 applications from potential candidates, using their fundraising abilities as a major selling point for their election.
One Nation’s only current Victorian representative, Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, told this imprint that growing support for the party would likely see the party moving towards a new model that relied more on donations from supporters and the public funding the party expects to receive from the number of votes it receives at the election.
“All of my past campaigns have been self-financed, but I think we’ll be using a new model going forward,” said Tyrrell, who represents northern Victoria.
“It’s hard for me to say exactly what that model is right now. I haven’t been officially confirmed. No one has.”
Tyrrell said growing support for the party in regional Victoria would form the basis of a new financial approach where donations were used in whole or in part to fund campaigns.
“I have constituents who want to donate, and I’d like to help them do that. It’s exciting,” he said.
Liberal Party sources have confirmed that One Nation purges donors at events in the city that bring together like-minded business people to hear debates about state taxes or other state policy issues.
Sources said these incidents were not specific to the party. Instead, party officials from the Liberals and One Nation have been attending events in the hope of rallying support for their upcoming campaigns.
Some donors plan to pour all their donations into One Nation’s state election campaign, while others plan to split their pledges between the Liberals and One Nation.
Two sources have confirmed that at least one high-net-worth Melbourne property developer has pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars to One Nation’s state election campaign in exchange for the party agreeing to scrap the vacant property tax.
“There was a real infiltration of donors. I attended a non-Liberal industry event and there were wealthy donors there in the past who had donated to the Liberals and openly said they would donate to One Nation.”
Another recounted: “I was at a recent event and a property developer gave verbal assurances that certain policy settings would change if One Nation was in parliament.”
“One Nation previously had no policy regarding this particular tax, and now One Nation hates taxes.” [vacant property] tax. “There was nothing in writing, no public policy position, but he wrote them a huge guarantee of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the source said.
Property developers in Victoria, as well as local businesses, are shifting donations to engage in greater advocacy on IR-related issues and reduce red tape.
“Jess [Wilson] he was gentle [Jacinta] Allan’s work from home policy and these small and medium businesses are appalled. “These are the people who form the backbone of the party,” a Liberal Party source said.
The Allan government’s work-from-home policy only applies to work that can reasonably be done remotely and exempts small businesses employing fewer than 15 people.
A Liberal spokesman said the party was continuing to announce key policies through November.
“Our 10-year economic plan, which includes land tax and payroll tax cuts, has been very well received in the industry.
“Victorians want change, and we work every day to share our solutions.”
Despite this, money continues to flow to One Nation.
A source close to One Nation said another donor, possibly outside Victoria, donated Aitken’s $1 million donation to the party’s federal arm.
Aitken, who has previously donated to the Liberal Party and Advance Australia, told the imprint during a family holiday in Greece that he expected donations to continue to come from traditional Liberal donors, both wealthy and less wealthy.
“I donated $1 million to One Nation because I admire Pauline and her common-sense approach and I worry about the Australia Labor is creating for my children, both economically and socially,” he said.
“People donating to One Nation want zero handouts from the government. They just want less red tape and green tape, and they want to employ more Australians and get more things off the ground across a range of industries.”
Beyond industry events, One Nation is also drawing support from people outside its traditional “warrior” base at its own events, including a party in South Melbourne last month.
One attendee said the fundraiser also included traditional Liberal Party donors and long-time supporters of the party.
“It was a real sprawl; everyone was there, from high-income earners to luxury clothes and luxury bags to people with no teeth and everyone in between.”
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Sarah Danckert is a senior reporter specializing in investigations and corporate misconduct. He is a two-time Walkley Award winner and has won six Quill Awards and two Kennedy Awards.Connect with: X or email.
