Coal lobby ads biggest third party political expenditure in Australia

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The Guardian reported that advertisements spruiking the benefits of coal and mining were the biggest political expenditure by third-party groups in Australia last year, dwarfing public contributions from unions and GetUp, new data reveals.

The Australian Electoral Commission disclosures for the 2016-17 financial year were released on Thursday showing both major parties at the federal level declare more than USD 30m in donations and other receipts including public election funding.

The AEC disclosures confirm that Malcolm Turnbull was the biggest single donor to his own party, making a AUD 1.75 million contribution to the Liberal coffers just before the 2 July 2016 election.

Other large donations to the Liberal party included AUD 500,000 from regular contributor Roslyn Packer, the widow of the late Kerry Packer; AUD 200,000 from the Burnewang Pastoral Company; and AUD 150,000 from each of ANZ, the National Automotive Leasing and Salary Packaging Association and supermarket giant Wesfarmers.

ANZ gave the same amount to federal Labor while the party declared other receipts totalling AUD 128,100 from the National Automotive Leasing and Salary Packaging Association, AUD 110,000 from Woodside Energy and AUD 55,000 from Responsible Wagering Australia.

The biggest political expenditure was AUD 3.6 million by ACA Low Emissions Technologies Ltd, which manages a fund established by the coal industry to invest in clean coal. Its largest outlay was on political ads to pay for a campaign called Coal It’s an Amazing Thing.

The Minerals Council spent a further AUD 1.3 million, including the Making the Future Possible campaign which spruiks coal and prompted a backlash from BHP.

The Australian Education Union and the Australian Council of Trade Unions each spent about AUD 890,000, GetUp spent AUD 821,000, while the New South Wales Teachers Federation and Universities Australia spent about AUD 500,000.

Source : The Guardian