One Nation Requires $3,000 Donors to Sign NDAs for Sydney Fundraiser
The party’s senior leaders will meet with high-value donors next Thursday under strict confidentiality rules, a practice major parties describe as rare.
By Dominic Foster ·
One Nation is asking donors to sign non-disclosure agreements before attending a high-value fundraising event in Sydney. The party has invited supporters to a private dinner next Thursday where tickets cost $3,000 each. The event is described on the invitation as a very special evening at an undisclosed venue in central Sydney.
The four-hour gathering will include a cocktail and canapé service and a live auction. Donors will meet with Pauline Hanson, One Nation national director James Ashby, federal MP Barnaby Joyce, chief of staff Chris Taylor, and New South Wales leader Mike Newman. The party has labeled the event private and very discrete.
Unlike previous One Nation fundraisers, such as a $2,000 event in Melbourne in September, this gathering requires attendees to agree to specific confidentiality terms. The document seen by Guardian Australia instructs guests not to disclose information about conversations, activities, photographs, or video obtained during attendance. It also prohibits providing information, recordings, or comments to journalists, media organizations, bloggers, or other publishers.
The agreement states that these obligations continue after the event has concluded. Senior sources from the Labor and Liberal parties involved in running similar fundraisers say the use of non-disclosure agreements is unprecedented in their experience.
Clancy Moore, chief executive of Transparency International Australia, criticized the move as a worrying new step. Moore, who has long criticized closed-door fundraising dinners as cash for access, said charging guests for a political fundraiser and requiring silence raises serious questions about transparency. He noted that voters deserve to know if political commitments are being made behind closed doors to paying guests ahead of an important state election.
Christian Slattery, a senior campaigner at the Australian Democracy Network, said Australians are rightly suspicious of exclusive cash-for-access events. Slattery described the practice of slapping an NDA on a political fundraiser as setting a worrying precedent, noting that democracy thrives in the sunlight.
One Nation has disclosed $5,000 in reportable donations so far in the 2026-27 financial year. These funds came from three donations for a fundraising dinner with Joyce, according to disclosures with the NSW Electoral Commission. In the same period, the NSW Labor party raised $286,200 in reportable donations, while the NSW Liberals raised $95,900. The individual threshold for a reportable donation in New South Wales is $1,000.
The party has taken steps to protect the privacy of this specific event. A now-defunct webpage stated that registered attendees would receive a text message with the location just one hour before start time. This follows an incident in early September when the address of a fundraising lunch with Hanson in Melbourne was leaked, allowing journalists to photograph donors entering the venue.
One Nation has also required candidates at state elections to sign non-disclosure agreements. These documents prevent candidates from discussing their potential candidacy with the media or revealing confidential information obtained during the process. The current fundraiser comes as the party conducts a major donations drive in New South Wales.
A Sydney Morning Herald Resolve poll in September showed One Nation polling at 25% of the first-preference vote in the state. This placed the party ahead of the Coalition on 24% and behind Labor on 29%. Internal Labor polling suggests One Nation could pick up more than 20 seats in the state’s lower house. Newman and Joyce hosted several small-ticket dinners in October, with more events planned for November. One Nation was contacted for comment.
