According to the Australian Electoral Commission’s latest disclosure list – released this morning – Zou donated $445,783 in five separate instalments to the SA division of the Liberal Party.

The donations, which cover the period from July 2021 to June 2022, were made by Zou’s company Australian Romance Pty Ltd, which was registered in February 2019.

Australian Securities and Investment Commission records obtained by InDaily show Zou is listed as the company’s director.

The Chinese-born businesswoman is a regular donor to the SA Liberal Party, handing over $12,500 in 2020-21 and $182,755 in 2019-20.

She raised eyebrows ahead of the 2018 state election after tweeting a photo suggesting that she had signed a cheque for $1.2 million made out to the SA Liberals – but the windfall never showed up.

The latest donation disclosure list shows regular Liberal donors Ian and Pamela Wall also contributed $175,000 each in 2021-22, while real estate agent Bernard Booth chipped in $18,260 and businessman Michael Baragwanath donated $39,000.

Federal Liberal MP for the southeast seat of Barker, Tony Pasin, received a donation of $20,000 from the South Australian Timber Processors Association Inc.

The SA branch of the Australian Hotels Association donated a total of $155,000 across the state and federal branches of the Labor and Liberal parties, while defence company Saab Australia Pty Ltd chipped in $42,000 to the SA Liberal cause.

SA Labor’s biggest donors included “Oscar and Simba Pty Ltd”, which handed over $51,750, “sustainable global recourse patents and technology” company Cartwheel Resources, which bequeathed $50,000, the “Southpaw Social Club”, which donated $50,000 and is understood to be the effective trading name of the Left PLUS (Progressive Left Union and Sub-Branches) faction, and “the trustee for Precision Group Unit Trust”, which also handed over $50,000.

The SA Greens received $50,000 from Daniel McMichael – the CEO of a software company – while former Senator Rex Patrick received $20,000 from “Keep Them Honest Pty Ltd” and Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie received $200,000 from Climate 200 Pty Ltd.

Nationally, billionaire Clive Palmer pumped a record $117 million into the United Australia Party ahead of the May federal election, with his Mineralogy mining company donating the sums, including individual donations of $50 million and $30 million.

It is the most money an Australian political party has received in one year, beating the UAP’s record from the 2019 election where it got $89 million.

Palmer also donated $250,000 to the Liberal Democrats in mid-December 2021, a few weeks after announcing a preference deal with the minor party which campaigned against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The Australian Electoral Commission data shows that nationally, Labor took $124 million in donations, while the Coalition took $118 million.

The Greens, who received $22 million, continue to call for coal and gas companies to be banned from giving money and a $1000 cap on all donations.

Key independent senator David Pocock, who represents the ACT, received just under $1.7 million, including $856,382 from the Climate 200 group.

An analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity showed the top 10 donors contributed 76.9 per cent of all donations over the year.

The 10 individual donors, topped by Mineralogy, contributed $137.5 million to parties and independents.

Spending at the federal election reached a record $439.4 million.

“The undue influence of money in politics is getting worse,” the centre’s Anthony Whealy said.

“Record high spending fuelled by a handful of donors is putting our democracy at risk.

“Given the reliance that the major parties have on these top donors, there is a real risk that they receive special access and yield undue influence on our decision makers.”

– with AAP