Electoral corruption allegations in Australia

News.com.au reports on claims the Transport Workers Union (TWU) extorted money from transport companies and used it to bolster Labor Party election campaigning:

The Nine Network’s Sunday program reported the TWU had been accused of extorting money from transport companies and double-crossing its own members.

It said the union had been accused of extracting funds from companies and funnelling the money into a slush fund used to help re-elect New South Wales Labor MPs. …

The NSW MPs allegedly involved included Paul McLeay, Noreen Hay, Ageing and Disability Minister Kristina Keneally and Di Beamer.

The MPs had reportedly declared the funds to the NSW Election Funding Authority as having come from the union, but the union had not.

Readers will also recall how the trade union movement spent $10 million “buying” the election. And if these allegations are correct, it wasn’t even their own money!