NSW Election 2023: More than $20,000 donated to political parties from Dubbo electorate, new data reveals

A majority of the Mid-Western Regional LGA falls within the state electorate of Dubbo.

The Dubbo Greyhound Racing Club is the electorate's biggest political donor, handing over $5,000 to the Liberal Party ahead of the March state election.

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According to data released by the NSW Electoral Commission this week, residents and businesses across the Dubbo electorate made more than $21,800 in donations to political parties and candidates in the lead up to polling day.

This is more than neighbouring electorates of Orange and Bathurst which donated $5,080 and $21,000 respectively but significantly less than Barwon where $33,360 in political donations were made.

Of the $21,800 in political donations made from the Dubbo electorate, $12,780 went towards the Nationals Party, $5,000 went to the Liberal Party and just $2,920 went to the Labor Party.

By law, all donations of $1,000 or more made to political groups in the lead-up to the state election had to be disclosed to the NSW Electoral Commission within 21 days. This included multiple donations by the same person or entity adding up to over $1,000.

Across the state, more than $6.5 million in pre-election political donations were disclosed - with more than $4.5 million in donations reported in 414 pre-election period disclosures and more than $2 million in donations reported in 72 disclosures submitted after election day.

There were 41 disclosed donations made from the Dubbo electorate with an average donation amount of $531.71.

Individual donors to the Nats included Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders, who donated just $180, Margaret Reid who made $3,630 in donations, chairman of the NSW Nationals' Dubbo State Electorate Council Geoffrey Ballard who donated $1,355 and businessman Grant Timothy Gjessing who made $1,220 in donations.

Companies backing the Nats included charter flight service AirLink who donated $1,240, arborist business A1 Tree Services who donated $2,109 and Double R Equipment Repairs in Mudgee who donated $1,800.

The Labor Party received fewer disclosed donations from the Dubbo electorate, with two donors giving a total of $2,920. Stephen Lawrence - who was successful in his bid for the upper house in March.

The remaining $1,100 in donations made from the Dubbo electorate went to the Elizabeth Farrelly Independents group. Elizabeth Farrelly is a Sydney-based columnist and architecture critic whose 16-strong group of independents failed to pick up any seats in their run for the upper house.

For candidates, elected members, unregistered parties and parties registered for less than 12 months, the donation cap is $3,000.

All the data and a map showing a breakdown on political donations for each electorate can be found on the NSW Electoral Commission website.