Menzies donations: chronology and disclosure

July 17, 2016

Below is the chronology of 125 donations totalling $38,540 received for the campaign against Kevin Andrews in Menzies. We are including full names where the donor agrees and explanations of the support at the bottom where statements are provided.

Chronology of donations received for Menzies campaign

July 7
Jane: $100

Running total: $38,540 donated in 125 transactions
July 1

Edward Patching: $150
David Barrow: $15

June 29

Tony: $50
Michelle C: $100

June 27

Nicholas Moore: $50
Mark: $100
Justin: $50

Daily total: $200
Running total: $37,915

June 24

David: $1000
Sid: $20

June 23

Andy W: $100
Peter: $1000
Alex: $1500
Linda: $300
Peter: $1000

Daily total: $3900
Running total: $36,695

June 21
Carol: $100
Chris S: $100
Anon: $100

Daily total: $300
Running total: $32,795

June 20
Philip S: $150
Doug M: $100
Jennifer D: $200

June 19
Max: $100
Dr S: $50
Kay DC: $250
Lynne H: $500

Daily total: $900
Running total: $32,045

June 18 (100 transactions up to this point)
D Kennedy: $25
Ruth B: $25

June 17

Ian Teese: $500
Giuseppe: $50 (A Menzies voter)
Russell W: $15

Daily total: $565
Running total: $31,095

June 16

Den: $1000
Jeff Jenkins: $100 (on top of earlier $100)
John T: $250
Graham Cohen: $200
Michael Bond: $500 (see explanation below)

Daily total: $2050
Running total: $30,530

June 15 (90 contributions by close of business)

ASX 100 public company director: $1000
Ivan R: $200
Nimalan: $30

Daily total: $1230
Running total: $28,480

June 14

Scott M: $25
Loz: $100
David B: $15

June 13

Paul W: $100 (see comment below)
Tulloch: $35
Mark P: $30

Daily total: $165
Running total: $27,110

June 12

Penny L: $100
Peter H: $100

June 11

Paul J: $200
John H: $30
Chris O: $50
Chris H: $50
Tim H: $50

Daily total: $380
Running total: $26,745

June 10

George Penney: $500 (a financial supporter of political campaigns since 2006)
John S: $50
Reg T: $50 (will be voting 1 Green, 2 Mayne in Menzies but still happy to donate)
George J: $20 (A Menzies voter, see his explanation here with other comments from locals)
John D: $100
Mr Williams: $10
Alan D: $200
Chris R: $50
John H: $30
Philip M: $100

Daily total: $1110
Running total: $26,365

June 9 (64 up to this point)

Dr John Evers: $200
Andrew Pegler: $50
Roslyn: $25
Bruce P : $150 (second contribution after earlier $100)
Max: $20
Simon W: $100
Ian B: $50
Justin C: $50 (local now hosting a "Fake Kevin" sign)
Leonie S: $50
JL & GW: $100

Daily total: $795
Running total: $25,255

June 8

Jenny G: $20
Ian W: $50

June 7

Russell: $300
Steve B: $50

June 6
$25: Gary
$100: Peter J
$150: Leigh

Daily total: $175
Running total: $24,040

June 5
Tim: $100
Hugo: 40 (recurring monthly contribution)

June 4:
Paul: $500
Carol L: $500
Kevin C: $50

Daily total: $1050
Running total: $23,725

June 2
Pete J: $250

May 31 (42 by end of May)
Helen: $250 (conditional on giving her a mention in maiden speech - agreed)
Peter G: $100
Michael M: $20 (second donation, lifting total to $70)
Bruce M: $100 (second donation, lifting total to $150)

Daily total: $470
Running total: $22,425

May 30
Ron Smith: $25 (former politics teacher)
Chris C: $100
Liz: $20

Daily total: $145
Running total: $21,955

May 26
Simon Feely: $500

May 25
John M: $100
Kate Sleeman: $100
Suzanne: $1000
Ben: $500

Daily total: $1700
Running total: $21,310

May 24
Adam Schwab: $500
Murray: $100
Rob J: $100
Peter M: $50
Paul J: $50 (old school mate)

Daily total: $800
Running total: $19,610

May 23
Chiara: $20
Tony the ex councillor: $1000 (never met him)
Andrew: $1000

Daily total: $2020
Running total: $18,810

May 19
Rod the Crikey life member: $5000 (met for coffee for first time after donation made)

May 18
Claire: $100

May 11
Hugo: $100

May 9 (20 so far)
Bruce: $50
Penny: $100
Coralie: $50
Jennifer: $100
Sarah: $500
Nora: $100
Vivienne: $20
Leo D'Angelo: $100

Daily total: $1020
Running total: $11,590

May 8
Michael: $20
Josh: $5

May 7
Jeff Jenkins: $100
Brian $20
Ian M: $30
Roger: $5
Lyn Allison: $100 (former Democrats senator, see her explanation below)
Bruce: $100
Paddy: $50
Adrian: $50
Peter J: $50

Daily total: $505
Running total: $10,545

May 5
Recurring monthly donation from Hugo: $40
Running total: $10,040

April 28
Paul Bendat: $10,000 offered by the anti-pokies campaigner along with campaign assistance to run in Menzies.

What donors say about why they donated

"In the absence of a Democrats candidate in this electorate, I would really like to see Stephen take the seat, firstly to drive accountability which is so desperately needed at the Federal level, and secondly to remove Kevin Andrews whose extreme conservative agenda is problematic, especially for women". - Lyn Allison, Former Senator for Victoria and leader of the Australian Democrats

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Hi Stephen, I am a former federal Liberal Party staffer for many years who did work in the PM's office and waved the “moderate” banner! I cannot vote for you so thought a donation the next best thing. Nothing would delight me more than to see the appalling Kevin Andrews lose his seat so I wish you the very best of luck! Best wishes! - name withheld

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"I'm supporting Stephen as I have always admired his passion and integrity. I think he would make an excellent independent parliamentarian as a progressive conservative standing up for the rights of small business and individuals with his anti-pokies campaign." - Michael Bond.

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"The only reason that a conservative dominated senate committee would release a report which is going to cripple main stream environmental groups now is that they do not want Turnbull to win. I am a local businessman and co-manage an environmental not for profit." - Bruce

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Hi Stephen. Like you I am a small-l liberal. I met you once at a Young Liberal function where you were controversially a guest speaker. I left the Liberal Party years ago but still believe in the concepts of progressive liberalism of personal responsibility, but also looking after each other and looking forwards not backwards. In this vein I have been a strong supporter of Malcolm Turnbull. For me Turnbull winning is not just about keeping the ALP out of office. It's a battle for the future of the Liberal Party. I fear that if he loses the party will radically lurch to the right into a Tea Party rabble. Who then will advocate for people like me? It is apparent to me that the hard right of the party secretly want to lose this election so they can move back in this direction. The party tried this before with Abbott and it was a disaster. As a Liberal supporter I couldn't come at voting for him and was embarrassed to see what the party of Menzies and Hamer was becoming. Parliament needs people like you who understand that business is not the enemy, but also there is a place for the state to look after people. Best wishes for the campaign and I hope you manage to knock off Andrews. - Chris

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Good luck Stephen. Have always admired your hard work and persistence. We need more people like you who have sensible views about supporting businesses both large and small so we can have a prosperous society that can afford world leading education and health. - Paul

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Hi Stephen,

Wishing all of the best in the upcoming election.

I chose to donate $1500 to your election efforts because I believe the two major political parties and the system we have now does not represent the best interests of the electorate, and as a result our democracy doesn't really exist to the extent it should. Actually, I am the biggest pessimist and would say democracy has already failed, but people don't realise it yet. Maybe I am wrong and there is still a chance to make a difference, that is my hope.

The idea is that regardless of what happens, you will shake up what we currently have.

Your politics appears to be more to the right than what I would normally support, but we have to be realistic, because anyone more to the left would have no chance in Menzies.

The single biggest issue for me is over population. It is the greatest threat to humanity. It cuts across every other issue we choose to focus on, scarce resources, habitat destruction,dealing with waste, global warming... We can halve our impacts on the environment and society, but if population doubles we are back to where we started.

I also wanted to mention that I believe we are in a more dire situation now than we were in 2008 during the GFC (which really hasn't gone away.) I can't understand why every economist is saying we need to lower interest rates to stimulate the economy, and every politician is dutifully obeying. They say it is a choice between austerity and stimulating the economy. I have not formally studied economics but to my way of thinking, it is a choice between consumption and investment.

Consumption makes us poorer, and investment makes us richer. So if that were true interest rates would need to rise to ration credit and direct it to investment. The only people that could afford to borrow would be those that could get a return through investment. Economic policies are making the situation worse by encouraging consumption. Even house building is consumption and not investment. You can't have a building led recovery.

As a country we think we are much wealthier now because our credit limit has been increased on our credit card. We are still spending more than we earn, and one day we will reach our credit limit again, which is essentially what happened in 2008.

I mention all this because I want people who can make a difference to look at these issues, and be leaders, not panderers to a system that is failing us/has failed us.

Good luck. Alex

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Tax deductibility of political donations

Tax deductibility is also an important consideration as was explained in this Crikey story. The relevant extract was as follows:

The July 2 election date actually makes it easier to raise funds in some respects, because citizens (not companies) can claim a tax deduction of up to $1500 for donations to registered political parties. This will be just another “get your tax down” marketing push amid the usual late June offers.

Interestingly, as the ATO explains here, donations to independent candidates are treated separately so an individual can claim up to $3000 per year, provided it is split equally between registered parties and independent candidates.

And if you want to claim $6000 worth of donation deductions for this federal campaign, just transfer $1500 to a party and $1500 to an independent before June 30 and then repeat the process on July 1.

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Thanks again for everyone's support and why not encourage other candidates to be this transparent about their fund raising.

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Menzies donations: chronology and disclosure

July 17, 2016

Below is the chronology of 125 donations totalling $38,540 received for the campaign against Kevin Andrews in Menzies. We are including full names where the donor agrees and explanations of the support at the bottom where statements are provided.