Buying a seat at the table: Labor donations linked to Sydney football boss under scrutiny

The NSW Labor Party has referred itself to the state election regulator over discrepancies in political donations by companies linked to the chairman of an A-League franchise which has received millions in grant funding from the Minns government.

Gino Marra, the chair and co-owner of the Macarthur Bulls A-League franchise, is linked to tens of thousands of dollars in contributions through various companies to south-west Sydney Labor MPs, which have opened the door for lunches with Premier Chris Minns and Sports Minister Steve Kamper.

A former Liberal Party donor, Marra became a generous contributor to the Labor cause in the lead-up to the 2023 election.

His companies’ financial backing has raised questions about the effectiveness of caps meant to limit the influence of political donations, and an investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald has prompted Labor to refer itself to the Electoral Commission over discrepancies between donor returns lodged by its MPs and those made by companies linked to Marra.

The companies’ contributions also raise questions about how millions in grant funding were handed to the Bulls franchise.

Two days before the March 2023 state election, Labor announced $8 million in funding for a school soccer clinic program run by the Bulls.

The “Bulls in Schools” clinics have since been subject to departmental scrutiny over the accuracy of the club’s participation numbers. The Herald’s investigation also uncovered that the club spent almost $900,000 from the program on “head office costs”, including executive wages, which were notified to the government before the grant was awarded.

The donor

In March last year, Kamper sat at a long table at the Macarthur Grange Golf Club in south-west Sydney with about a dozen supporters for an intimate Labor fundraiser.

Organised by Campbelltown MP Greg Warren, the guest list included figures from across Kamper’s eclectic group of portfolios; some talked sport, others multicultural affairs and small business.

One stood out for his generosity. An analysis of donation disclosure records conducted by the Herald shows that of the $10,000 raised at the lunch, $8000 came from companies and organisations linked to Marra.

The donations came from four organisations and were entirely legal under current rules. Marra is a director of three of the four companies – Pennytel Australia, Marra Capital Trust, and VI XV MMII Holdings Trust. He serves as the secretary of the fourth, Southern Districts Soccer Football Association (SDSFA).

The SDSFA did not lodge a separate donor return for the fundraiser, as required. Association president Andy Favaloro said while he attended the lunch, and had previously donated to both political parties on behalf of the SDSFA, the club did not pay for the event with Kamper.

“I guess somebody would’ve paid for my attendance, but there was no money paid on our behalf. No money came from the club, I can guarantee you that,” he said.

The final donor was Alvaro Transport, a western Sydney-based logistics company. Like the football association, it did not lodge a disclosure return. In November, five months after the fundraiser, the Macarthur Bulls announced Alvaro Transport as a new sponsor.

The owner and sole director of Alvaro Transport, Mario Alvaro, did not respond to multiple requests for comment about whether the company made the donation or if he attended the event.

Asked whether Alvaro Transport attended the fundraiser, Warren, the MP, said the company “certainly doesn’t ring a bell”.

“Party office collect and collate all that … I don’t see it as it’s all online and goes straight to them including declarations,” he said. “Honestly can’t remember.”

Marra did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Minns’ office directed inquiries to Kamper’s office and Labor headquarters.

The Herald’s investigation has found other discrepancies in other Marra-linked donations.

Macarthur FC was listed as an attendee at another Warren fundraiser, at the Campbelltown offices of Marsden Law with Minns in August 2023. A month later the Bulls were listed as attendees at another fundraiser – again with Minns – organised by Sally Quinnell, the Labor member for Camden.

While Bulls chief executive Sam Krslovic is recorded as contributing $1500 for the 2023 Warren fundraiser, there is no record of a donation to the Quinnell event.

After she was contacted, Quinnell initially said she would check her donor records, then did not respond to multiple calls and text messages.

About the same time, Pennytel Australia – where Marra is a director – declared a $9540 contribution to Leppington MP Nathan Hagarty.

Such a donation would have been above the cap; in the 2023-24 financial year, donors were limited to contributing $7600 for registered parties and $3600 for individual MPs.

Hagarty declared $2940 from Pennytel for a Leppington fundraiser in November 2023. After the Herald made the NSW Labor Party aware of the donor declarations and the apparent discrepancy, a spokesman said it had referred itself to the NSW Electoral Commission.

“Our records confirm all donations received by Pennytel Holdings Limited are within the cap and correctly declared. Out of an abundance of caution, we have referred these matters to the NSW Electoral Commission,” he said.

The NSW Electoral Commission said it did not comment on individual cases.

A senior Labor source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the party’s fundraising, said there was concern about the “reliance” of its south-west Sydney MPs on Marra’s generosity.

Marra sought funds for a Centre of Excellence for the Bulls at the fundraiser and a second meeting with Kamper.

Kamper’s office said there was no connection between the fundraiser and the subsequent meeting.

“As part of their normal duties it is expected that ministers will attend a wide variety of events where members of the community, business representatives and other stakeholders are present,” the spokesman said.

“The NSW government has denied funding for the Macarthur Bulls Centre for Excellence proposal on multiple occasions.”

Bulls in Schools

Marra has been successful in securing funds from the Minns government.

The $8 million funding commitment to Macarthur FC – announced at the same time as a $6.5 million grant to Western Sydney Wanderers – has been scrutinised within the state bureaucracy.

The program has been running since 2020, but the government injection has proven to be a boon for the club.

In cost assumptions to the Department of Education in July 2024, Macarthur claimed head office expenses represented nearly 43 per cent of the $2 million it received that year under the grant.

The breakdown showed taxpayers funded 7 per cent of the Bulls CEO’s wage, 25 per cent of the general manager of operations and 30 per cent of “other back office staff”. The entire salaries of the program manager and a senior football development officer were attributed to the football programs.

“Party office collect and collate all that … I don’t see it as it’s all online and goes straight to them ... Honestly can’t remember.”

Campbelltown MP Greg Warren

In the 2023 financial year, Macarthur claimed $82,4011 for insurance, $87,199.35 for “IT, Digital and Media”, $112,151.27 for “resources and printing” and $159,968.27 for “other expenses”.

This was in addition to the $700,000 the club estimated as the coaching costs of the program.

Macarthur budgeted coaches at $99 per hour – about double the $46.40 estimate provided by the Wanderers.

A Macarthur FC spokesperson said the club was proud of its partnership with the government but did not say how the club determined $8 million was necessary to run the program, and whether it was appropriate for taxpayers to fund executive wages.

“Launched in late 2023 as part of a four-year funding agreement, the program is on track to reach its participant targets and sits at the heart of the club’s community development mission,” they said.

The Bulls in Schools program has not lived up to Macarthur’s claims.

Data provided to the department revealed 11,875 children had participated in Bulls in Schools – 46 per cent of the target – by March of last year. The girls’ holiday camp reached 41 per cent of the 4600 participation goal, while the multicultural camps reached 73 per cent.

A Herald analysis of the Bulls’ data highlighted instances where the number of children the club claimed were registered and participated exceeded the school’s enrolments.

In late July 2024, Macarthur claimed 116 children participated at Cawdor Public School clinic, despite 76 children being enrolled. In February last year, the club claimed 131 children at Kemps Creek Public School attended an after-school program – departmental records show 114 enrolments.

As well as an internal review, the Department of Education appointed Grant Thornton to audit the club’s claims. The probe was completed in December last year.

The department said in a statement that the audit had “identified areas for improvement relating to administrative and data reporting processes”.

The department initially claimed enrolment numbers could not be compared with program participation data because “students can attend multiple training sessions with each session counting as a student having participated”.

But in a second statement, the department acknowledged the inconsistency.

Documents obtained through a parliamentary call for papers also show the Bulls – and Wanderers – did not spend the first year’s full funding, and were allowed to keep the excess funds to use on other expenses despite education department legal advice that it should be repaid.

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