A former Labor fundraising director says she has never seen cash donations as large as $5,000 at any dinner event “during my entire employment”, casting further doubt on the origins of money allegedly given to the party’s former New South Wales secretary in an Aldi shopping bag.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating an alleged scheme to circumvent the state’s election laws, involving Labor officials and prominent Chinese property developers, who were banned from donating in the state.
Icac has heard Labor officials may have used a Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinner in March 2015 to mask the true source of a $100,000 cash payment from a banned donor, the Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo.
The inquiry has heard evidence that Huang handed $100,000 cash to the then Labor boss Jamie Clements in an Aldi shopping bag at the party’s Sussex Street headquarters several weeks after the dinner.
The inquiry has also heaped pressure on the current NSW Labor boss, Kaila Murnain, who the inquiry heard saw the cash-filled bag following Huang’s visit. Murnain is due to give evidence on Wednesday.
Multiple news reports suggest she is planning to quit.
Labor records purport to show the $100,000 was made up of 20 smaller $5,000 donations from 12 individuals who attended the March fundraising dinner.
Patty Barrett, who managed NSW Labor fundraising events between 2009 and 2016, said she had never seen cash donations as large as $5,000 at any fundraising event held by the party.
“During my entire employment with the ALP NSW Branch, I have never seen or heard of any individual person or company donating $5,000 in cash at any fundraising dinner or event,” Barrett told Icac in a statement. “If this would have occurred, I definitely would recall it.”
“From my experience, people attending ALP fundraising events usually would pay sums up to $500 in cash for raffle tickets but amounts above that ($500) were usually paid by way of a credit card or cheque.”
Barrett said it would be “highly unusual” for money raised at Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinners to be delivered to Labor’s Sussex Street headquarters a month later.
“Depending when the events finished, the monies were usually delivered to the ALP Head Office that night or the following day,” she said. “I have never heard of any fundraising monies being delivered or handed over to ALP Head Office a month later.”
Barrett said she was typically only involved in the logistics of such events in the latter stages of her career with NSW Labor.
Murnain was the assistant general secretary of NSW Labor in 2015. She has previously told Icac investigators that the state MP Ernest Wong told her that Huang was the true source of the $100,000.
On Tuesday Clements’ barrister, Stephen Lawrence, said evidence about Huang handing his client the cash-filled Aldi bag was “made up”.
The inquiry continues before the chief commissioner, Peter Hall.
