“It reads that way,” Ms Sullivan said,referring to the transcript of the phone conversation.

IBAC Commissioner Redlich QC described the recording as evidence that money buys “privileged access” to politicians.

“Can we not put to rest once and for all the notion that people don’t make substantial donations in the expectation that they will get support in return from the party or from ministers when there’s a need? Doesn’t this conversation disclose precisely what the objective of a major donor is?”

Ms Sullivan agreed but said she believed Mr Woodman’s approach was not common practice among members of Enterprise Victoria.

On the secret recording Ms Sullivan also referred to a “loophole” in tough new Andrews government donations laws that since November 2018 have limited donations from any single source to $4160 over a four year period and have required donations of more than $1040 to be disclosed publicly.

Ms Sullivan she was referring to the tactic of redirecting funds through an account of the federal Liberal Party,not the state party. By doing so,Enterprise Victoria bypassed the Victorian laws and were instead covered by the much higher Federal disclosure threshold of $14,300.

Mr Woodman avoided having to report the donation through the Federal scheme by splitting it into $10,000 lots across multiple companies. Ms Sullivan said such splitting of contributions was “not uncommon”.

On the recording Mr Woodman claimed to be a"great supporter"of the Liberal party and explains that he had recently caught up with Tony Abbott who he had offered to support at the 2019 federal poll.

Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien on Monday said he understood Enterprise Victoria approached his office about a meeting with Mr Woodman but the meeting never happened.

“Nobody should be offering a meeting … I choose who I meet with,” he said.

“I’ve never met with John Woodman and I won’t meet with him.”

He stressed that Ms Sullivan was no longer the head of Enterprise Victoria.

Mr Clark said he did not believe he was approached about a meeting with Mr Woodman and that no such meeting occurred.

On Monday IBAC announced it was inviting questions from the public about how to address corruption risks identified by the Casey inquiry,known as Operation Sandon.

Commissioner Redlich said,"This is an opportunity for the public and interested community stakeholders to contribute to the examination of these important issues by posing questions for discussion with the expert witnesses."

The questions may be submitted via IBAC's website and will be considered for possible discussion at public hearings next week Question submissions close at midnight,Sunday 13 December.