A handful of tech firms and the big four consultancies together donated almost $1.4 million to Australia’s major political parties last year, according to newly released figures which have reignited a push for better electoral transparency.
Annual donations data released by the Australian Electoral Commission on Thursday shows the biggest consultancies – PwC, EY, Deloitte and KPMG – and the tech sector gave around 9 per cent of the $12 million in donations in the 2022-23 financial year.
The number of donors – and the value of the donations – from the tech sector has slipped since the 2021-22 election year, while donations from the big four consultancies have grown, despite increased scrutiny of their influence in government.
The consultancies gave a combined $938,152 to Labor, the Liberals and the Nationals in 2022-23, up from $859,655 in 2021-22 and $723,438 in 2020-21. Unlike 2021-22, Labor was the overwhelming beneficiary in 2022-23, receiving $591,426.
Embattled PwC, which spent most of last year rebuilding its brand following the tax leaks scandal, reclaimed its spot as the largest political donor among the firms, giving Labor $224,006, the Liberals $144,902 and the Nationals $1,065.
Ernst & Young donated $222,353 to the major parties, with the majority of the funds going to Labor ($186,732), while Deloitte and KPMG gave $177,126 and $163,200, split broadly evenly between Labor and the Coalition.
Mirroring last year, US multinational Amazon donated the most of the tech giants. The local arm of the company gifted $112,340, the majority of which went to the Liberal Party ($60,453), continuing a trend that began in 2020-21.
Brisbane data and cyber firm Cryptoloc Technology gave $82,220 to the two major parties, making it the second biggest donor in the tech sector. In 2020-21, the company heavily favoured Labor, giving the party $72,220.
The Tech Council of Australia donated $66,000 to the two parties, evenly split between Labor and the Liberal. Optus and Telstra also gave similar amounts of $63,200 and $51,000 to Labor and the Liberals, respectively.
German software giant SAP donated less to Labor and the Liberals in 2022-23 than in 2021-22, gifting $31,055 to Labor and $9,450 to the Liberals. In 2021-22, the split between each party was $33,000 to $28,700.
McKinsey, which donated to Labor last year, was absent from the list, as was listed telco, computing and data centre services provider Macquarie Telecom, one of the most consistent and generous donors, over the past decade.
Following the release of the dataset, Greens Senator Larissa Waters called on the government to deliver the political donation reforms that it is promised, including real-time public disclosure of donations.
“We’ve had to wait a whole year, and today’s data only shows the tip of the iceberg. More than a third of all donations fall below the $14,500 disclosure threshold, and many ‘membership fees’ and cash-for-access event fees are not classed as donations so they stay hidden from public view,” she said.
