Key facts
- The invitation sets the fundraiser at an undisclosed central Sydney venue for a four-hour cocktail-dress event.
- The agreement bars donors from disclosing attendees' identities, conversations, activities, photographs and recordings.
- The obligations continue after the event has concluded, according to the agreement text.
- Senior sources from Labor and the Liberals told Guardian Australia the use of non-disclosure agreements at such events is unprecedented.
- Transparency International Australia chief executive Clancy Moore said the arrangement raises transparency questions ahead of a state election.
- One Nation was contacted for comment, the report said.
One Nation has asked donors attending a $3,000-a-head fundraiser in central Sydney to sign a non-disclosure agreement barring them from revealing details of the event, according to an invitation seen by Guardian Australia. The cocktail-dress event is scheduled for the coming Thursday at an undisclosed venue and runs four hours.
The invitation lists Pauline Hanson, One Nation national director James Ashby, federal MP Barnaby Joyce, federal party chief of staff Chris Taylor and New South Wales leader Mike Newman as attendees. The agreement tells donors not to disclose information about what occurs at the event, including conversations, activities, photographs, video or other details, and not to provide information, photographs, recordings or comments to journalists, media organizations, bloggers or other publishers. It states the obligations continue after the event has concluded.
Guardian Australia reported that a $2,000 invite-only One Nation fundraiser in Melbourne in September did not carry such an agreement. Senior sources from both Labor and the Liberal party involved in running fundraising events told the outlet the use of non-disclosure agreements was unprecedented.
Clancy Moore, chief executive of Transparency International Australia, said charging guests for a political fundraiser and requiring them to keep quiet about it raises serious questions about transparency ahead of an important state election. Christian Slattery, a senior campaigner at the Australian Democracy Network, said an NDA on a political fundraiser sets a worrying precedent.
NSW Electoral Commission disclosures show One Nation has reported $5,000 in donations for 2026-27 across three donations for a fundraising dinner with Joyce. Over the same period NSW Labor reported $286,200 in total reportable donations and the NSW Liberals $95,900. The individual threshold for a reportable donation in New South Wales is $1,000.
A now-defunct webpage for the event had said registered attendees would receive a text message with its location an hour before the start. In early September the address of a three-course fundraising lunch with Hanson in Melbourne was leaked to the media, and journalists photographed donors entering. One Nation has also required state election candidates to sign non-disclosure agreements.