THE bank accounts of Tasmania's major parties swelled in the lead-up to last year's federal election, documents released yesterday show.
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The Liberal Party's Tasmanian branch raked in more than double the state Labor branch and more than a million more than the Tasmanian Greens last financial year.
The 2012-13 returns reveal the Tasmanian Liberals collected almost $1.6 million, Labor receipted $746,000 and the Greens earnt almost $500,000.
The figures were all up on the previous financial year as parties ramped up their fund- raising ahead of the September election.
Donations and spending by individual candidates during the campaign period will be released separately in March.
The Tasmanian Liberals declared two donations. The biggest came from the Australian Association of Pathology Practices, which gave $25,000, and Doug Dickinson handed over $20,000.
Mr Dickinson runs Cuthbertsons Bros, a Launceston-based hides and sheepskin processing facility, and has strongly advocated for the state opposition's plan to offer $11 million a year for three years to entice a direct international shipper back to Tasmania.
The Health and Community Services Union was Labor's biggest donor, pouring $55,000 into its coffers, while Hobart anaesthetist Greg Austin gave $25,000 and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association also contributed $14,968.
Few specific donations were declared as under federal law political parties only have to report donors that give $12,100 or more, but an analysis of donors' returns also revealed building products company CSR and the owner of its sugar brand Wilmott contributed a combined $13,991 to the Tasmanian Liberals.
Among the smaller donors to the Liberal Party's Tasmanian branch were ALH Group, which owns five Tasmanian hotels, and Michael Crouch, whose company Zip Heaters invented instant boiling water.
Denison independent MHR Andrew Wilkie condemned the two major parties for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars last financial year from companies that profited from poker machines.
Various donations were made to the national ALP and Liberal parties and some state branches.