Labor smashes fundraising record in FY21

Big business and trade union support helped fill Labor's coffers in the past financial year, with the party's $12.7 million haul outstripping the combined earnings of the coalition parties in the year to June.

Labor marched to a historic victory at the most recent state election, capturing 53 of 59 seats in the lower house and winning its first ever majority in the Legislative Council.

That victory was aided in part by a huge number of disaffected Liberal voters bucking the party in ordinarily safe electorates, including Churchlands and Nedlands.

Several major businesspeople, including property developer Nigel Satterley, also voiced their support for Labor ahead of the poll, helping boost the party's reputation with the Liberal Party's traditional base.

Annual returns show the extent to which the business community voted with their wallet, with the likes of Fortescue Metals Group, Mineral Resources and Capital Investment Partners chipping in to fill Labor's war chest.

Notable individual donors include The Bass Group, which is associated with Aquila Resources founder and frequent Liberal donor Charlie Bass.

It handed over $18,000, listed as 'other receipt', in comparison to $120,000 worth of donations made by Mr Bass to the Liberal Party itself.

Mr Bass is also listed as donating $45,000 to Labor.

Trade unions were also reliable donors, with the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, United Workers Union and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union listed as making multiple donations to Labor.

Funding for the Liberals, meanwhile, came from a smaller pool, including frequent donors Northern Star Resources, Australian Gypsum Industries and DFD Rhodes.

All three of those entities are listed as having contributed through 'other receipt', rather than a direct donation.

Donations to the Greens generally comprised small cotnributions, with notable individuals including Chilla Bulbeck, who is now a councillor at the Town of Cottesloe, and Brad Pettitt, who's currently the only elected Greens member in either house of state parliament.