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Election disclosures detail the millions of dollars raised and spent by the teal independents to defeat high profile Liberal MPs in blue-ribbon seats at the May federal election.
Key points:
- The disclosures show two of the teal independents spent more than $2.1 million on their campaigns
- Climate 200 says it needed to donate to level the playing field with the major parties
- The group says 72 per cent of its donors contributed $200 or less
The six successful teals were big beneficiaries of the Climate 200 group, which made $5.96 million in declared donations.
Allegra Spender in the wealthy Sydney eastern suburbs seat of Wentworth spent the most of any independent candidate, $2.124 million, to oust moderate backbencher Dave Sharma.
Alex Turnbull, the son of the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, was among her notable donors.
Ms Spender's expenditure was closely followed by Monique Ryan, who spent $2.122 million to defeat the sitting treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong.
Ms Ryan had raised $1.84 million from more than 3,700 donors, with about $749,000 coming from the Climate 200 group.
The records show Zoe Daniel spent $1.59 million in Goldstein in Melbourne, Kylea Tink $1.38 million in North Sydney, Sophia Scamps $1.22 million in the Sydney northern beaches seat of Mackellar and Kate Chaney $973,000 in the Perth electorate of Curtin.
ACT Senator David Pocock was also a big beneficiary from Climate 200 and defeated conservative Liberal Minister Zed Seselja.
But Senator Pocock is the sole representative of his own party, the David Pocock Party.
He will disclose the full details of his donations at the same time as the major political parties in February next year.
Senator Pocock and Climate 200 have advocated for donation reform to reveal contributions in real time, instead of many months after an election.
"I look forward to working through the current parliament to progress reforms so that we can have a much more timely and transparent political donations framework," Senator Pocock said in a statement.
In total, 11 candidates that received support from Climate 200 were successful, however, four were already in the federal parliament, including Zali Steggall, who spent $768,000.
Climate 200 argues it had to 'level' the playing field for independents
Climate 200 has long argued it needed to back pro-climate action candidates to level the playing field and make sure the independents were competitive with representatives of the major parties.
In a statement, the group said more than 11,200 Australians donated to the effort in the lead up to the election.
"Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of Climate 200 donors gave between $1-$200, while 85 per cent gave $500 or less," the statement said.
"(Investor) Simon Holmes à Court and his family's philanthropic vehicle, Trimtab Foundation, donated less than 2 per cent ($250,000) of the $13 million raised by Climate 200."
But the disclosures reveal the details of the 63 donors who gave more than the threshold of $14,500 – some contributed substantially more.
Among them is Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, who along with his wife donated $1.5 million.
Boundless Earth, a climate group chaired by Mr Farquhar's business partner Mike Cannon-Brookes, donated to Climate 200 and pro-climate action candidates, including Senator Pocock and independent candidate Jack Dempsey. In total, the donations came to about $1.18 million.
Rob Keldoulis, chief executive of Vivienne Court Trading, donated $1.2 million to Climate 200 and more than $650,000 in total to independents.
"We are already seeing the positive impact the elected independents are having on our parliament," Climate 200 executive director Byron Fay said.
"And are excited to see that other communities around the country are now mobilising to get behind their own independent leaders."
Liberal Party still stung by loss of heartland seats
The loss of the blue-ribbon electorates continues to sting members of the Liberal Party.
On social media, former minister Alan Tudge accused Monique Ryan of being part of "probably the most concentrated and least transparent funding of any campaign in Australian history".
The defeats to the six teals not only makes it harder for the Coalition to return to government.
It has also left the Liberal Party without some experienced MPs who would have played a big role in opposition, particularly Mr Frydenberg.
"This is a very dark day for Australian democracy," claimed Jason Falinksi, the former Liberal MP who was defeated by Sophie Scamps in Mackellar.
"It shows elections can be bought".
Not all the donations helped candidates win
Not all the independents were successful.
For example, Georgia Steele in the NSW seat of Hughes spent more than $660,000 and got 14.3 per cent of the primary vote.
Climate 200 also donated to unsuccessful candidates, including Penny Ackery, Nicolette Boele, Jo Dyer, Alex Dyson, Claire Ferres Miles, Carolyn Heise, Kathleen Hook, Hanabeth Luke and Despi O'Connor.
Dai Le, the member for the western Sydney seat of Fowler, was one successful independent who spent comparatively little.
The disclosures show she spent $161,131 and only raised $81,177.
But she was still able to deliver a blow to the incoming Labor government by knocking off frontbencher Kristina Keneally, who had been parachuted into the outer-suburban electorate even though she lived on the affluent Scotland Island in Pittwater.
In the coming days, the donation data will be closely poured over by the major political parties, which both saw their primary votes drop at the last federal election.
Although there are substantial differences in donation laws at a state level, the major parties are closely watching how independents and minor parties are tracking ahead of the Victorian and NSW elections.