From the Guardian · · 1m 40s
One Nation demands donors sign NDAs at Sydney fundraiser
The party is asking $3,000-a-head attendees to keep quiet about discussions with Pauline Hanson and senior leadership, a move transparency experts say sets a dangerous precedent.
In brief
The party is asking $3,000-a-head attendees to keep quiet about discussions with Pauline Hanson and senior leadership, a move transparency experts say sets a dangerous precedent. One Nation is requiring donors at a three thousand dollar Sydney fundraiser to sign non-disclosure agreements preventing them from…
One Nation's secret fundraiser
One Nation is hosting a four-hour invite-only event in central Sydney next Thursday. Donors are charged three thousand dollars to meet Pauline Hanson and senior party leadership.
Who will be there
Attendees will meet Pauline Hanson, national director James Ashby, federal MP Barnaby Joyce, chief of staff Chris Taylor, and New South Wales leader Mike Newman.
The non-disclosure agreement
Donors must sign an NDA preventing them from disclosing attendees' identities or discussing what happens at the event. The agreement bans sharing information with journalists or media organisations.
“Do not disclose information about what occurs at the event, including conversations, activities, photographs, video or other details obtained through attending.”
An unprecedented move
Senior sources from Labor and Liberal parties say using non-disclosure agreements at fundraising dinners is unprecedented. Such events are common but have never required NDAs before.
Transparency experts sound alarm
Clancy Moore of Transparency International Australia says the NDA is a worrying step. He argues voters deserve to know whether political commitments are being made behind closed doors to paying guests.
“A non-disclosure agreement should never be used to shield political fundraising from public scrutiny.”
Democracy thrives in sunlight
Christian Slattery of the Australian Democracy Network says slapping an NDA on a political fundraiser sets a worrying precedent. Australians are rightly suspicious of exclusive cash-for-access events.
“Slapping an NDA on a political fundraiser sets a worrying precedent. Democracy thrives in the sunlight.”
One Nation's fundraising push
One Nation has disclosed five thousand dollars in reportable donations in two thousand twenty-six to twenty-twenty-seven, across three donations for a fundraising dinner with Joyce.
What it means
One Nation is requiring donors at a three thousand dollar Sydney fundraiser to sign non-disclosure agreements preventing them from discussing the event, raising transparency concerns ahead of the NSW election.
