By Dominic Giannini in Canberra

Tens of millions of dollars of “dark” donations to political parties with no donor information because of weak disclosure laws, have sparked calls for electoral reform.

Labor and its state branches raked in $67.5 million in 2023/24, the coalition banked more than $73 million and the Greens $17 million, according to Australian Electoral Commission data released on Monday.

The source of “hidden money” that’s not required to be disclosed was almost $75 million – or 45 per cent, according to analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity.

The origin of donations under $16,300 for 2023/24 don’t need to be disclosed. This increased to $16,900 for 2024/25.

Proposed changes to electoral laws bringing the disclosure amount down to $1000 and more stringent reporting requirements are before parliament, but they are tacked on with more controversial expenditure thresholds.

Candidates will be limited to spending $800,000 per election campaign and can only receive donations of up to $20,000 from an individual.

There will also be a cap on federal spending for non-political parties of $11 million, which covers unions and special interest groups such as Climate 200, while registered political parties will have a ceiling of $90 million.

Political parties will get more cash per vote from the electoral commission.

Independents have branded the proposal a major party stitch-up that boosts Labor and Liberal coffers with public money.

The caps also make it harder for independents only running in a single seat to compete with candidates from major parties, who have access to tens of millions of dollars to spend on advertising.

Independent Senator David Pocock, who declared $205,000, condemned the secrecy around donations.

“Australia’s political donation laws are currently a joke and a lack of transparency is eroding public trust in our democracy,” he said.

“It’s unacceptable that Australians have to wait months, sometimes over a year, to find out which corporations and vested interests are bankrolling politicians.”

Independent MP Sophie Scamps joined his call for real-time disclosures.

“Disclosing that after an election is too late so we need far greater transparency,” she told AAP.

Dr Scamps also called for bans on donations from the coal and gas and gambling industries.

“We have to make sure that wealthy individuals and corporations don’t have an undue influence on our democracy.”

One of the largest donations was $1 million to federal Labor by Pratt Holdings, the company of billionaire Anthony Pratt.

Unions were a significant cash cow for Labor while banks, consultants and legal firms donated across party lines.

Gambling companies donated tens of thousands of dollars to Labor as the government mulled reforming sports betting before shelving any legislation.

Sportsbet donated $88,000, Tabcorp $60,500, the Lottery Corporation $44,000 and peak body Responsible Wagering Australia $66,000.

Tens of thousands of dollars more were funnelled into some of the party’s state branches.

The gambling companies have also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the coalition.

Tabcorp donated tens of thousands of dollars more to Labor’s state divisions on top of more than $90,000 to the Liberals and Nationals and their associated state branches.

The Greens’ largest individual donor was professional gambler Duncan Turpie with $575,000.