Gina Rinehart\u2019s Hancock Prospecting donated almost $900,000 to rightwing political campaign outfit Advance last financial year, while Clive Palmer was the country\u2019s largest single donor, giving his own Trumpet of Patriots just over $53m.<\/p>\n
New political donations data released by the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday showed Hancock Prospecting made two donations in 2024-25 to Advance, worth a combined $895,000.<\/p>\n
The company donated another $105,000 to the Liberal party\u2019s Victorian division, while S Kidman & Co, the Rinehart-owned beef producer, donated $99,000 to the Western Australian Liberal division.<\/p>\n
The data showed the 2025 federal election was a record high for political donations in Australia, without taking inflation into account.<\/p>\n
It showed the Liberal and National parties in total spent nearly $215m before the election, well ahead of Labor\u2019s $160m. Despite the smaller spend, Labor roundly defeated the former Coalition, led by the then opposition leader, Peter Dutton.<\/p>\n
Lobby group Coal Australia was one of the biggest donors, giving more than $5.1m to organisations including Australians for Prosperity, Energy for Australians and Jobs for Mining Communities. Coal Australia also donated nearly $240,000 to the Liberals and Nationals.<\/p>\n
New donations rules are set to come into force in time for the next election, due by 2028.<\/p>\n
Table showing the sum of donations declared in the 2024-25 financial year, grouped by donor name<\/a><\/p>\n Advance, which is a third-party organisation under the rules, has campaigned against net zero by 2050 climate policies and is now campaigning against immigration.<\/p>\n Rinehart is also strong backer of the former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, who defected to One Nation in December. She has already started supporting the party, including providing a private plane last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advance\u2019s executive director, Matthew Sheahan, said in a statement that it received 52,898 contributions from 15,758 individual donors in 2024-25, and claimed 92% of all donations were of $150 or less.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough Advance does not comment on any particular donor, every one has demonstrated they are willing to go above and beyond to defend this nation\u2019s freedom, security and prosperity,\u201d Sheahan said.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s political donation rules require the source of cash above the disclosure threshold to be made public. Indexed annually, the threshold was $16,900 in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Clive Palmer\u2019s company Mineralogy<\/a> was the largest single donor in the period, handing the mining boss\u2019s startup party Trumpet of Patriots $53.1m.<\/p>\n Palmer also donated $302,901 to his United Australia party. The massive spend resulted in limited success, with neither party winning seats.<\/p>\n Showing donation amounts in dollars ($) classified as \u2018donation received\u2019 by political parties, summed by financial year. *Not adjusted for inflation<\/a><\/p>\n Labor\u2019s big ticket donations included $500,000 from Fox Group, owned by the trucking magnate Lindsay Fox. The company gave the same amount to the Liberals.<\/p>\n Pratt Holdings, the company of billionaire Anthony Pratt, donated $2m to Labor. The company also donated $1m to the Liberal party.<\/p>\n Billionaire Kerry Stokes\u2019 private company Australian Capital Equity donated $300,000 to Labor, while the estate of the late Victorian Labor senator Linda White donated $1m to the party.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n The data also revealed the Adelaide-based philanthropist Pamela Wall donated $5.2m to the Liberal party\u2019s South Australian division. Along with her late husband, Ian Wall, the co-founder of electronics company Codan, Wall is one of the state\u2019s biggest individual charitable donors.<\/p>\n The Liberal party banked $1.8m from Oryxium, an investment company linked to businessman Frank Lowy.<\/p>\n The food delivery app DoorDash donated $785,000 to the Liberals, ahead of Indian-owned mining company Adani, which gave more than $620,000. Stokes\u2019 Australian Capital Equity donated $500,000 to the Liberals.<\/p>\n Reclusive mathematician Duncan Turpie donated $1.05m to the Greens. Turpie has been one of the party\u2019s biggest backers in recent years.<\/p>\n Political funding with known and unknown sources<\/a><\/p>\n Climate 200, the pro-climate action backer of teal independents, declared $9.45m in donations in the period. Founded by businessman Simon Holmes \u00e0 Court, the organisation distributed $10.85m to candidates, including MPs Sophie Scamps, Allegra Spender, Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney and a range of new candidates.<\/p>\n Some of its bigger donations came from Atlassian co-founders Scott Farquhar ($1.5m) and Mike Cannon-Brookes ($1.3m).<\/p>\n Keldoulis Investments, owned by one of Climate 200\u2019s biggest backers, Rob Keldoulis, donated more than $1.5m, as well as more than $400,000 to the Legalise Cannabis party. Keldoulis also donated an additional $22,900 to Legalise Cannabis in his own name, and $100,000 to the Australian Greens. <\/p>\n Hemmes Trading, the company of hospitality magnate Justin Hemmes, who hosted Peter Dutton for a lavish fundraiser at his Sydney home<\/a> before the May election campaign, donated more than $300,000 to the Liberals.<\/p>\n Pauline Hanson\u2019s One Nation recorded nearly $2.6m in total receipts but published $152,000 in donations from just three entities, meaning more than $2m in donations were received below the $16,900 reporting threshold.<\/p>\n Fossil fuel companies donated strongly to the major parties, including $102,000 from Woodside and $133,715 from Chevron.<\/p>\n The gambling company Sportsbet donated $71.5k to both the Labor and Liberal parties, while Tabcorp gave $60,500 to Labor and a combined $71,000 to the Liberal and National parties.<\/p>\n