What does a company expect to get for its money when it makes a political donation? According to the experts, not much in the way of tangible returns. For most companies, it’s an expression of support for the country’s democratic processes.

But you certainly can’t read that much into the donations made last year by local insurance companies as well as by the Insurance Council. The Australian Electoral Commission’s annual returns of political donations reveal everyone’s donations, but not why the donations were made. These were the insurance industry donations, which netted the ALP $38,000 and the ruling Liberals a mere $31,600:

Allianz Australia: ALP $20,000, Liberals $31,600. AAMI (Victoria): ALP $8,000. SGIO: ALP $10,000. Insurance Council of Australia: Australian Democrats $2200.