“The argument is over who owns the shares,” he said.

The Cormack Foundation argues that no trust arrangement ever existed.

The fund was established with $15 million from the sale of former radio station 3XY in 1988 and has since grown to almost $70 million.

The foundation was established by senior Liberals to handle the proceeds from the sale, during Mr Kroger's first stint as president.

Mr Kroger told the court that the Liberal Party was not “gifting” the money to the Cormack Foundation when it was established but rather it was intended for the party.

The foundation originally had three shareholder board directors but that has since been expanded to eight.

The hearing before Justice Jonathan Beach has been set down for five days.

The Cormack Foundation’s political donations had traditionally flowed to the Liberal Party but controversy erupted when it gave $25,000 each to Family First and Liberal Democrats.

In February last year The Age reported that the Cormack Foundation had donated $40 million to the Liberal Party over 18 years.

Mr Kroger was party president between July 1987 and mid-1992 and then again from 2015 until the present. He has nominated again for the presidency but faces a challenge at April’s state council meeting from one of the party’s vice-presidents, Greg Hannan.