The NSW Electoral Commission has also denied funding claims made by One Nation, finding in 2021 that it incorrectly claimed $118,000 in taxpayer funds for the purchase of electoral material, including merchandising.<\/p>\n
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n The Guardian sought multiple documents One Nation lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission to justify the taxpayer funds it received under public funding arrangements after the 2025 federal election, and correspondence between the party and the regulator about its claim.<\/p>\n Based on the 6.4% national vote the party received at the last election and its Senate performance, One Nation received more than $6m in public funding from the AEC.<\/p>\n The released documents show that following the party\u2019s lodgement for just over $6m in July last year the commission queried information provided for 143 of One Nation\u2019s claimed expense items.<\/p>\n A senior compliance officer from the AEC raised questions with the party about its claim in late October, advising that more information was needed to justify and process the claim.<\/p>\n \u201cInformation can include further descriptions of the goods and services provided and what the dominant purpose of the expenditure was for,\u201d the compliance officer wrote in an October email to the party\u2019s operation manager, Alex Jones.<\/p>\n Quick GuideContact us about this storyShow The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.<\/p>\n If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.<\/p>\n Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/p>\n The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019. <\/p>\n SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post<\/p>\n If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n Finally, our guide at theguardian.com\/tips<\/a>\u00a0lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.\u00a0<\/p>\n Illustration: Guardian Design \/ Rich Cousins<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n The officer requested the document be returned in the same week \u201cso that we may continue processing the claim\u201d.<\/p>\n After a phone call about the queries, Jones, who is based at the party\u2019s Brisbane headquarters, advised that the party would \u201cvoluntarily withdraw\u201d the items.<\/p>\n In an email, Jones said: \u201cI wish to voluntarily withdraw the 143 items which have been queried totalling $809,648.11 from the party\u2019s interim claim, to allow us more time to assess the queries and provide appropriate responses for each in the party\u2019s final claim.\u201d<\/p>\n In November, the party submitted its final claim, however details of this, including its response to the 143 queried items, have been redacted under freedom of information laws.<\/p>\n The decision to refuse the release of certain documents to the Guardian, including two key documents that detail the party\u2019s funding claim, is based on the AEC\u2019s compliance review of the payments made to One Nation. The AEC also examines funding claims made by other political parties as a matter of routine.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | When needed<\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The AEC is refusing access to the documents that list items of electoral expenditure that comprise the election funding claim, saying the release \u201cmay influence or jeopardise the compliance review process\u201d.<\/p>\n It also said that it did not want to release supplier information as it may compromise an ongoing investigation into the party\u2019s financial compliance.<\/p>\n \u201c[The documents] relate to an ongoing investigation into the accuracy of PHON\u2019s election funding claim, which includes the assessment of evidence provided by PHON in support of its claim for election funding,\u201d the AEC said in its decision letter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe two documents in question identify suppliers associated with PHON\u2019s electoral expenditure and form part of the evidentiary basis for the current investigation. Disclosure would therefore reveal aspects of the scope and evidentiary focus of the investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cI consider that release of the documents could reasonably be expected to forewarn third parties of the direction of the investigation, including the nature of the evidence being examined, and in doing so put the investigation in jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n The AEC said it was \u201creasonably expected\u201d that it would need to seek further information or evidence from certain suppliers identified in these documents.<\/p>\n \u201cDisclosing the identities of these suppliers could prejudice the conduct of the investigation and the proper administration of the law in this course of the investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cI am satisfied that the risk identified is real and arises directly from the content of the documents and the circumstances of the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782670811_365_4000.jpg\")
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