Tasmania’s major political parties have declared just a slice of the donations they received in 2023 and 2024.
Australian Electoral Commission data shows the Liberals pulled in more than $3.3 million from donors, while Labor collected over $2.2 million during the same period.
But both parties have only disclosed about 10% of those amounts, sparking accusations of a lack of transparency.
The Greens, who revealed about half of the $660,000 they received, are calling on the other parties to follow suit and support lowering the disclosure threshold from $16,000 to $1,000.
New rules coming into effect mid-year will require political parties in Tasmania to disclose all donations over $5,000 every month.
“The whole system right now is cooked,” Greens MLC Cassy O’Connor said.
“We should absolutely be strengthening the political donations rules in this state with the bill that’s coming through the Parliament.”
Despite the backlash, both the Liberals and Labor insist they’re following the rules.
“We’ll disclose what the law says we need to disclose,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said. “We’ll always comply with the law.”
Labor’s Janie Finlay said the same.
“We always follow the rules and [disclose] what is required and we would love for the thresholds to be lowered and for the disclosures to be increased,” she said.
Among the Liberals’ declared donations were $22,000 from Google Australia and $20,000 from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s Tasmanian branch.
Labor received $18,667 from the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, $90,000 from the CFMEU and $18,667 from Carol McQueeney.
New party leader Dean Winter contributed $22,500, while the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association chipped in $17,400.
The Greens reported $20,000 from Keep Them Honest, $50,000 from Debra Lyn Rees and $25,000 from Duncan Turpie.
