In 2012 political donations to parties in Queensland were capped at $5000. Donations from related corporations were treated as one from a single entity. Anonymous donations of $200 or more were banned.<\/p>\n
However, there was a get-out-of-jail-free card. Gifts to political parties were uncapped so long as they were not for campaign purposes. Later that year the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) explained in its report \u2018The regulation of political donations and gifts in Queensland<\/a>\u2019:<\/p>\n \u2018Political parties, state candidates and third parties are required to establish state campaign accounts. Only electoral donations that fall under the cap are able to be deposited into the account and only electoral expenditure is allowed to be paid out of the account. Any electoral donation that exceeds the cap can only be deposited into a general administration account. There is no cap on general donations that are unrelated to election campaigns.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Queensland\u2019s Liberal National Party must have had a large administrative bill in 2012. Money was flooding in, even from interstate.<\/p>\n Controversial Newcastle mining and \u2018magnate\u2019 Nathan Tinkler was grilled at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) earlier this year about political donations in New South Wales, in particular to Liberal Party\u00a0slush fund Eightbyfive<\/a>. Political donations by property developers were banned in NSW in 2009. His\u00a0defence<\/a>, according to the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘I’ve given more to worse people’.<\/p>\n Nathan Tinkler leaves #ICAC<\/a>. @Kate_McClymont<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MUmMHqLc5H<\/a>
\n\u2014 Edwina Pickles (@EdwinaPickles) May 15, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n