Clive Palmer pumped almost $10m into PUP
Clive Palmer’s companies donated almost $10 million to his political party over the past financial year, with more than half from the troubled Queensland Nickel refinery.
Palmer United Party (PUP) received a total of $9.77 million in donations in 2014-15 — more than the total received by either Labor, the Nationals or the Greens.
Queensland Nickel donated $5.9 million in the 12-month period, while Mineralogy donated $3.6 million and the Palmer Coolum Resort donated $191,113.
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Mr Palmer also donated $2,000 personally.
PUP received almost $26 million from businesses owned by Mr Palmer in the previous financial year (2013-14), with Queensland Nickel donating $15.2 million in that time.
Donation figures released today by the Australian Electoral Commission also reveal that the Liberal Party has begun building its war chest in the lead up to the next federal election, with donations totalling $10.3 million.
The total came from just 21 donors, including $600,000 from Brunswick Property Vic Pty Ltd.
Labor received $7.3 million from 288 donations.
The Nationals and the Greens received around $593,233 and $526,484 each.
ANZ donated to both major parties, though gave more to the Liberal Party ($100,000) than Labor ($80,000).
– ABC