Three developers, nine companies, $44,000 for the Liberals: Inside a donation law loophole

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Share A A A Three wealthy property developers, including the son of a $400 million nut king, used a network of jointly owned companies to donate $44,100 to the Victorian Liberal Party in a single week, a move which did not breach the state’s donation laws because each payment came from a separate legal entity.

The cash windfall has exposed a potential loophole in Victoria’s political donation scheme that could allow other wealthy donors to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to political parties and independent candidates using a similar setup.

Between late April and early May, the Victorian branch of the Liberals received a total of $58,800 from a dozen businesses all named variations of Mensch Investments, Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) records show.