As you decipher how the federal budget may alter your life on Tuesday night, your politicians will be raking in the cash by wining and dining donors and lobbyists in Canberra.
This year’s budget night fundraisers – often concealed from the general public – could be something of a final hoorah. New laws capping campaign spending will soon make these budget night soirees less important, at least financially.
Tickets will have to be publicly disclosed as gifts, meaning there will be a record of those who sipped champagne with politicians and filled the party coffers. But these changes won’t apply until 2026. For now, the show goes on.
This year, Labor is charging donors $5,000 a head to attend its federal budget dinner at an undisclosed Canberra location. The event will be attended by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and his ministry (one can only hope with that fee) after the budget speech in the lower house.
As a thanks for their financial loyalty, members of Labor’s business forum can attend for a discounted entry fee of $4,000 a head; not a huge discount for those who’ve paid more than $100,000 for a top tier membership.
Liberal politicians and staffers get their own fundraising fun on Thursday night when Peter Dutton delivers his budget reply speech. Guardian Australia has seen at least five separate Canberra-based events for sale with tickets ranging from $500 to $5,000.
Liberal backbench MPs Alex Hawke and Simon Kennedy are both holding events at a function room at Manuka Oval, with Hawke charging $500 for a single ticket while Kennedy’s event offers tickets for between $500 and $5,000.
Retiring MP Paul Fletcher will be joined by the Bradfield candidate, Gisele Kapterian, for a Canberra dinner event. Liberal members can join for $1,000 a head while non-members must fork out $2,000.
If travelling to the bush capital is too much of a stretch, the former prime minister John Howard will join the Liberal’s Bennelong candidate, Scott Yung, for a three-course dinner on budget night. It’s a bargain at just $220 a head.
Genuine engagement or a chance to feel important?
Earlier this year, many lobbyists and donors openly joked about the budget night fundraisers. Almost no one expected they would go ahead. But then ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred upended any chance of an early election.
Political staff and advisers have mixed reactions to these events, ranging from contempt and disdain to mild enthusiasm.
One former senior Labor figure speaking on the condition of anonymity described budget night fundraisers as a waste of time and money for anyone hoping for a genuine engagement.
“You pay $5k for a seat at a table and when the minister eventually shows up, he’s exhausted,” they said. The cynic said the events were simply about filling up the party’s coffers before an election.
But one former Liberal figure said the events were “incredibly valuable and five grand for access to a minister that can make decisions – it’s not that much money”.
Face-to-face interactions with Canberra’s most powerful politicians was important for businesses and lobbyists to build long-term relationships, a former Labor chief-of-staff added.
“No one’s forcing people to attend these events. They choose to do so,” they said.
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Lobbyists’ views varied too. One budget night veteran, who declined to be named, said there was very little “hard lobbying” conducted by anyone vaguely competent on the night itself.
“If you want the government to spend more money on your client, then the literal worst possible place to be is in Canberra on budget night, when ministers will tell you about all the decisions they’ve already made,” the operative said.
“But I’m sure there will always be some who turn up and think, ‘Here is how I can get my way’.
“Generally speaking, lobbyists go to these events because it makes them feel important. They know that if they take their clients and the minister comes over, drops their name, they’ll get stars in their eyes.”
A former state Liberal staffer said people who turn up to these events could sometimes get preferential treatment in a minister’s diary at a later date.
“Or they might get the 10.30am spot in the diary, and not the 7am one,” they said.
Cash-for-access a ‘blight on our democracy’
Outside those attending the soirees, the view is less benign. Transparency advocates have long argued the practice undermines democracy and encourages the country’s richest to spend big on elected politicians for access and influence.
In October 2022, the Labor government banned political fundraising events in the “bookable” areas of Parliament House, including public areas such as the Great Hall and function rooms.
However, the rules do not cover parliamentarian offices or the rooms reserved for political parties’ use in the taxpayer-funded building – a loophole used by some politicians in last year’s federal budget.
The independent ACT senator, David Pocock, said the practice was inappropriate no matter where the event was held.
“Politicians are elected to represent their communities and should be accessible to everyone, not just those with the biggest bank accounts,” Pocock said.
The new laws don’t take effect for some years yet but will be in operation by the next federal election sometime in 2028. By then, each ticket bought over the disclosure threshold – $5,000 – would be publicly disclosed. Those under that threshold will remain anonymous.