'Personal' donations to the Liberal Party came from vaping lobby during debate over policy

A national vaping lobby group donated a total of $44,000 to the Liberal Party but the money was declared as personal gifts from its director on electoral returns. Mr Marlow is also a friend of Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes, who is one of the Coalition's fiercest advocates for vaping as a tool to quit cigarette smoking. Senator Hughes chaired a Senate committee inquiry into vaping in late 2020, in which she said that vaping was a form of "tobacco harm reduction" that had helped her go 60 days without a cigarette. Senator used vapes to quit smoking In an interview conducted before Four Corners learned the true source of the donations, Senator Hughes said she did not know what Mr Marlow had given to the party. Four Corners later sent written questions to the senator regarding her knowledge of any donations from the vaping industry to the Liberal Party and her attendance at the roundtable meeting.