One Nation is scooping up donations from wealthy business people who have previously only donated to the Liberal Party ahead of the Victorian state election, but concerns remain about whether the challenger party’s disorganisation could put a dampener on its fundraising efforts.
Melbourne’s private property developers are leading the charge, promising huge sums to One Nation in return for advocacy on key policy areas including some of the controversial property taxes brought in by the Allan government.
Entrepreneurs tied to successful small-to-medium sized businesses are also throwing cash at the party in return for One Nation advocating strongly against small business red tape and the government’s work from home policy in the lead up to the November election.
The shift in support from major wealthy donors has been confirmed by five sources familiar with the Liberal Party’s fundraising activities in the state, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A similar trend has been recorded federally, where the Pauline Hanson-led party has, most notably, picked up 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 could book any donations in the hundreds of thousands of dollars without running up against donation laws.
Only two donations to One Nation’s Victorian arm, together totalling $6239, have been disclosed on the Victorian Electoral Commission’s live database – raising questions about how and where One Nation is receiving its donations for the state campaign.
There have already been questions about its management of campaign finances after The Age revealed Nepean by-election candidate Darren Hercus was instructed to use his personal bank account to receive donations – allegations the party strongly denied.
It is also unclear whether the donations from well-heeled Victorians have formally been received and if they have been directed to the state or federal arm of the party.
The delays to the disclosures could also be due to the donations being pledged to yet-to-be-endorsed candidates or held back until reforms to state donation caps were thrashed out in early June.
There are also ways that donations can be funnelled through various structures to limit the level of disclosure.
One Nation is planning to run up to 100 candidates in the state election, but there are fears from within its own ranks that it will lose some of its pledged donations and support due to its disorganisation.
The party is currently without a state leader, any state-based fundraising foundation and continues to operate out of a small warehouse in Pakenham. Liberal Party state executive member Colleen Harkin, who recently quit the party and signed up for One Nation, is seen as a strong prospect.
It is also yet to officially endorse its candidates for the November election as it sifts through 1200 applications from prospective candidates using their ability to pull in donations as a key selling point for their selection.
One Nation’s only current Victorian representative, Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, told this masthead the increased support for the party was likely to see it move towards a new model that relies more heavily on donations from supporters and the public funding the party expects to receive from the number of votes it gets at the election.
“All of my campaigns in the past have been self funded, but I think moving into the future we’ll use a new model,” said Tyrrell, who represents the Northern Victoria region.
“It’s hard for me to say right now exactly what that model is. I haven’t been officially endorsed. No one has.”
Tyrrell said growing support for the party in regional Victoria was likely to underpin a new financial approach where donations were used to fund campaigns – either fully or in part.
“I have constituents who want to donate, and I would like to help them do that. That’s exciting,” she said.
Liberal Party sources confirmed that One Nation has been mopping up donors at events around the city that bring together like-minded business people to hear discussions on state taxes or other state policy issues.
These events are not party specific, the sources said. Instead, party operatives from the Liberals and One Nation attend the events in the hope of garnering support for their upcoming campaigns.
Some of the donors are planning to move all their donations to One Nation’s state election campaign, while others intend to split their pledges between the Liberals and One Nation.
Two sources confirmed that at least one high net worth Melbourne property developer has pledged hundreds of thousands to One Nation’s state election campaign in return for the party agreeing to repeal the vacant property tax.
“There has been a real leaching of donors. I attended a non-Liberal industry function and there were wealthy donors that in the past had donated to the Liberals there who were quite openly saying they would be donating to One Nation.”
Another recounted: “I was at a recent event and a property developer secured oral assurances that particular policy settings would be changed if One Nation was in parliament.”
“One Nation had no policy on this particular tax beforehand and now One Nation hates the [vacant property] tax. There was nothing in writing, no public policy position, but he’s written them a large pledge in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the source said.
Along with property developers in Victoria, local business is also shifting donations for increased advocacy on IR-related issues and on reducing red tape.
“Jess [Wilson] has been soft on [Jacinta] Allan’s work from home policy and these smaller and medium businesses are horrified. These are the people who are the backbone of the party,” a Liberal Party source said.
The Allan government’s work from home policy applies only to work that can reasonably be done remotely, and exempts small businesses that employ fewer than 15 people.
A Liberal spokesperson said the party was continuing to announce key policies in the lead up to November.
“Our 10-year economic plan, including land tax and payroll tax relief, has been very well received across industry.
“Victorians want change, and we’re working every day to share our solutions.”
Despite this, money continues to be directed towards One Nation.
A source close to One Nation said another donor, possibly from outside of Victoria, has matched Aitken’s $1 million donation to the federal arm of the party.
Aitken, who has previously donated to the Liberal Party and Advance Australia, told this masthead from his family holiday in Greece that he expected donations to continue to flow from traditional Liberal donors – both wealthy and the less well-off.
“I donated $1 million to One Nation because I admire Pauline and her common-sense approach and I worry about the Australia the Labor Party is creating for my kids both economically and socially,” he said.
“The people donating to One Nation across the board want zero from the government. They simply want less red tape, green tape and want to employ more Australians and get more things out of the ground across a range of industries.”
Beyond industry events, One Nation is also drawing in support from people outside its traditional “battler” base at its own events, including its shindig in South Melbourne last month.
One attendee said the fundraiser drew in those that included traditional Liberal Party donors and long-standing supporters of the party.
“It was a real spread, there was everyone there from high net worths with high-end clothes and high-end handbags to people without teeth and everyone in between.”
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Sarah Danckert is a senior reporter who specialises in investigations and corporate wrongdoing. She is a two-time Walkley Award winner, and has won six Quill Awards and two Kennedy Awards.Connect via X or email.
