The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) has been named as one of the biggest spenders in the country when it comes to political donations.
In total, AHA dropped a whopping $1.1 million in political donations from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018, with more than $600,000 going to the Coalition and almost $450,000 going to Labor.
State wise, South Australia copped the brunt of AHA’s donations, with their SA division donating just under $325,000 followed by NSW, which donated $294,092.
Tasmania copped $269,750, all of which was received by the Liberal party, following Labor’s anti-pokies campaign in the state.
The remaining $211,044 was donated by AHA’s federal division who notably dropped $76,000 on the ALP.
Last year, the AHA only donated a total of $201,200 but with a federal election taking place before 19 May, the association has upped its game significantly.
Another notably big spender was Crown Resorts, which donated $180,638 all up, with the Coalition getting over $90,000 and Labour receiving almost $80,000. Their focus was on WA, dropping 96,170 on the state in total.
Kalis Hospitality and Meriton Properties donated $70,000 and $50,000 respectively and Toga Group gave up just over $15,000.
As a point of reference, the largest donation came from Vapold Pty Ltd, which donated $2.3 million to the Liberal Party and The Electrical Trades Union which made a $1.1 million contribution to Labor.
Travel Weekly has reached out to the AHA for comment.
