Cash floods in for KAP

Donations double in three years

DONORS are flocking to North Queensland’s Katter’s Australian Party, with donation logs revealing the political outfit has managed to nearly double its election war chest as compared to 2017.

Electoral Commission of Queensland’s live donation disclosure logs show the KAP has raised about $461,131 so far this year, compared to $240,493 in 2017.

Unreserved advocates for the state’s licensed firearm owners, KAP’S donors have been largely recreational shooting associations, pro-gun lobby groups and arms and ammunition businesses.

This includes massive $100,000 donations from the likes of Shooters Union Queensland, the Queensland branch of the Sporting Shooters Association and pro-gun lobby group Firearm Dealers Association of Queensland, whose president is Robert Nioa.

Mr Nioa, party patriarch Bob Katter’s son-in-law, is also the managing director of NIOA, one of the nation’s largest providers of arms and ammunition, a supplier to the Australian Defence Force and Victoria Police.

In recent months the KAP has added some diversity to its list of donors, including ASXlisted power generation company Genex and the Pioneer Cane Growers Organisation.

Mr Katter said donors now saw the party as “sustainable and stable” and that people liked investing in entities with influence.

But strict political donations laws due to take effect in the next term of government would have a major impact, KAP leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter said.

The laws, which limit individual donations to $6000 a candidate and $4000 to parties, will significantly impact the party’s fundraising.

Mr Katter slammed the legislation, which passed in state parliament in June, as being deliberatively restrictive for minor parties and making it difficult for outfits like the KAP to go up against “100year-old political bodies” that have established staffers and infrastructure.

Queensland Labor has raised nearly $2.3m so far this year while the LNP has a $5m campaign war chest.