Liberal deputy mayor’s children among party’s biggest donors

6 days ago 4

Two of the Liberal Party’s biggest donors in NSW are the young adult children of a south-western Sydney deputy mayor, who gave a total of $15,000 to the party last financial year.

Liverpool Council deputy mayor Fiona Macnaught’s son and daughter, who both graduated from high school in the past four years, contributed $7500 each to rank among the party’s top 15 individual donors across its state and local government accounts in 2024-25.

Their donations were just shy of the state’s $8100 individual donation cap.

Another Liberal Liverpool councillor, 23-year-old Matthew Harte, donated $7945 to the party, with his parents, Denis and Fiona Harte, also chipping in $12,900 between them.

The Macnaught and Harte families, both allies of Liverpool’s Liberal mayor Ned Mannoun, donated nearly $39,920 to the party’s local government account. Neither responded to questions from the Herald about whether the individuals who made the donations were the original source of the funds.

It is illegal under NSW electoral laws to make a donation on behalf of another person. The Herald is not suggesting anyone has breached the state’s laws.

Liberal leader Mark Speakman, a former barrister who earns more than $300,000 a year as opposition leader, and his wife, Caroline, donated $16,800 over the course of the year.

Speakman contributed $9300, but $2300 was party administration fees, which are exempt under the cap.

Stephen Killelea, an IT entrepreneur whose wealth is estimated to run into the hundreds of millions, and his wife, Deborah, donated $15,800.

In response to questions put to each of the Macnaughts, only Fiona Macnaught responded, saying: “I am equally grateful to all my donors and supporters, who enabled me to win a place on council and serve the community of Liverpool.”

Macnaught’s daughter and son’s $7500 donations were made to the party’s local government account on March 27, more than six months after the council elections, according to documents lodged with the Electoral Commission.

The deputy mayor asked the Herald not to name her children, whose collective contribution was greater than the $9225 Macnaught, who spent most of her career as a sonographer, has given to the party over the past five years.

A spokeswoman said: “The NSW Electoral Commission generally cannot comment on specific compliance matters or confirm whether or not it is conducting, or has conducted, an investigation.”

Harte did not reply to calls or emails asking where he, a political adviser and councillor, obtained almost $8000 to donate.

Richard Ammoun, another Liverpool Liberal councillor, chipped in $15,800 from himself and a $2 company where he is listed as the sole director, shareholder and secretary.

Ammoun did not respond to the Herald’s questions.

A Liberal Party spokesman also did not respond to a question about whether they had confirmed or probed the origins of the donations.

“These donations have been fully disclosed in line with our legal obligations under the Act. Tens of thousands of people across this state donate to the NSW Liberal Party, to help us campaign against Labor,” he said.

Both Macnaught and Harte ran on Liberal council tickets aligned with Mannoun in 2021 and 2024. Harte also served as the campaign manager for Liberal Holsworthy candidate Tina Ayyad, Mannoun’s wife, during her successful 2023 state election run.

Liverpool Council chief executive Jason Breton gives evidence at the inquiry into Liverpol Council.

During a public inquiry into Liverpool Council, the council’s chief executive, Jason Breton, explained he was an “absolute novice” when Harte encouraged him to run as an independent for the 2021 council election on a ticket alongside his parents.

Breton was asked during the public hearing whether he believed the ticket was a “dummy group”: a political strategy used to harvest votes from independent candidates for an established party during an election. His failed campaign has subsequently become embroiled in controversy after evidence tendered to the inquiry allegedly showed Mannoun soliciting a $2000 donation from a property developer to help fund it.

In correspondence about the donation, obtained by the Herald, the NSW Electoral Commission noted it had received the allegations and referred their “substance” to the Office of Local Government, Liverpool Council and the Australian Election Company, the private firm that ran Liverpool’s local government election.

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