Who is donating to political parties in Queensland, Australia? An analysis of political donations from the food industry

Australia’s dominant food system encourages the overconsumption of foods detrimental for human and planetary health. Despite this, Australia has limited policies to reduce the burden of disease and protect the environment. Political donations from the food industry may contribute to policy inertia on this issue. We aimed to explore the extent of political donations made by the food industry in Queensland and investigate the timing of public health nutrition policies in relation to these donations.

We collected publicly declared political donations data in Queensland, Australia, as it has the most transparent donation records. Policy data were sourced from the Australian National and Queensland State Parliaments, and consultations from the Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation.

Queensland, Australia

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The Liberal National Party received 68% of all donations, with most immediately preceding the 2017 and 2020 state elections. The Australian Labor Party, despite forming government for the time-period under study, received only 17% of total donations. Most donations were given by the meat industry, followed by the sugar industry. Few policies exist to protect and improve human and planetary health, with limited associations with political donations for most industries except sugar.

Industry preference for the Liberal National Party, particularly as most donations coincided with election periods, may be due to the party’s emphasis on minimal state involvement in economic and social affairs. The relationship between industry donations and policies is not clear, partly due to the limited number of policies implemented overall.