Guns, gambling and smokes: the ‘bad guys’ who come to the party

The Nationals got a $55,000 donation from Philip Morris in November 2020, the only Australian political party still taking money from big tobacco.

Labor stopped taking tobacco industry donations in 2004, and Tony Abbott said the Liberals wouldn’t take them any more ahead of the 2013 election.

That’s left the Nats, and occasionally the Liberal Democrats, to get the bulk of donations from the dart lobby. Since 2013, Philip Morris has given $215,942 to various National Party branches.

The Nats aren’t the only party taking money from morally challenged places this cycle. Tabcorp donated $186,940 across Labor and the Coalition, and Sportsbet gave $143,000 split evenly between Labor and the Liberals.

The latest donations cycle also saw an increase in money coming in from various pro-gun lobby groups. That money was only flowing in one direction: towards the Katter’s Australian Party.

The Katter crew received $100,000 from the Queensland Shooters Union, which bills itself as a pro-gun lobby group defending the rights of private firearm owners. It’s the union’s first foray into political donations. 

KAP also got $130,000 from the Queensland branch of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia. It has donated to the party consistently over the past few cycles, but its 2020-21 bump is the biggest.

The Firearms Dealers Association of Queensland gave $100,000 to KAP. The association’s president, Robert Nioa, is party leader Bob Katter’s son-in-law.