Political donations data from AEC returns show a huge increase in political party funding did not translate into seats won at last year’s election. Stephanie Tran reports.
Nine months after Australians went to the polls, voters can finally see who bankrolled the 2025 federal election, and how much of that money came from undisclosed sources.
Newly released Australian Electoral Commission disclosures show the major political parties reported $417.2m in donations and ‘other receipts’* in the 2024-25 financial year, up by 58.2% from the $263.7m reported after the 2022 election.
Labor – who won 17 more House of Representatives seats – increased their takings by 30% ($37.3m), while the Liberals and the Nationals received an additional 87% ($102m), losing 15 seats.
Green donors, too, would not be happy about their return on investment, with an additional $13.7m of funding resulting in a loss of 75% of their lower house seats.
‘Dark money’ pervades despite ‘reform’
A significant share of the money received by political parties during the 2025 election cycle cannot be traced to an identifiable source.
Analysis shows $129.6m (31%) of all funds received by the major parties came from undisclosed sources, often referred to as “dark money”.
Source: AEC Transparency Data 2024-25
While the dollar figure is a record high, the proportion of hidden funding was even larger in 2022, when analysis by Our Democracy found about 40% of major party income came from undisclosed sources.
The figures once again highlight how Australia’s high disclosure thresholds (now $16,900) and reporting delays leave voters in the dark until long after elections are decided.
The biggest donors
There were few surprises at the top of the donor list.
Clive Palmer was again the single largest donor. Through his mining company Mineralogy Pty Ltd, Palmer made $53.2m in political donations. Mineralogy is registered as a significant third party and reported $289.4m in total receipts.
The second-largest individual donor was Pamela Wall, who gave $5.26m to the South Australian branch of the Liberal Party. Wall, a prominent philanthropist, became a billionaire in 2025 amid a surge in the share price of technology company Codan Ltd (ASX:CDA), in which she is a major shareholder.
Packaging billionaire Anthony Pratt, via Pratt Holdings, donated $2m to Labor and $1m to the Liberals. During the 2022 election, he gave $3.7m split evenly between the two – this time he backed the winning horse.
Other major donors included:
- Kerry Stokes, through his company Australian Capital Equity donated $500,000 each to Labor and Liberal
- Lindsey Fox also donated $500,000 to both major parties via Fox Group Holdings
- The estate of late Labor Senator Linda White donated $1m to the Labor party
- Duncan Turpie donated $1.05m to the Greens, making him the party’s largest individual donor
Henroth Investments
John Henroth, the husband of Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal, donated $280,000 to the Liberal Party and $20,990 to Labor. He came under fire last year for donating $50,000 to right-wing lobby group Advance Australia, leading to calls for Segal to step down.
Advance Australia
Advance Australia reported $13.5m in receipts but disclosed the source of only $5.2m, leaving about $8.3m in dark money. The organisation spent $10.1m during the election.
Hancock Prospecting, owned by Gina Rinehart, gave $895,000 to Advance Australia as well as $204,000 to the Liberal Party. James Packer donated $150,000 to Advance via his personal investment vehicle Consolidated Press Holdings.
Mining and fossil fuel lobby
Coal Australia Limited, which represents major coal companies, donated $5.15m to fossil fuel lobby groups, including Australians for Prosperity, a coal industry funded organisation that campaigned against progressive candidates during the election
The Minerals Council of Australia disclosed $1m in donations, the majority of which went to the Liberal Party.
Climate 200
Teal fundraising vehicle Climate 200 donated $2.7m across independent candidates.
Major Climate 200 donors included:
- Robert Keldoulis (Keldoulis Investments) – $1.58m
- Scott Farquhar – $1.5m
- James Taylor (William Taylor Nominees) – $1.3m
- Mike Cannon-Brookes – $1.3m
- Paul Bennett – $1.1m
- Marcus Castaras – $1m
- Fairground Investments (previously Barlow Impact Group) – $1m
- Norman Pater (through New Regime Pty Ltd) – $1m
* Other receipts is a broad category that includes membership fees to Labor and Liberal business forums, ticket sales to fundraising events, investment income and public funding from the AEC.
Stephanie is a journalist with a background in both law and journalism. She has worked at The Guardian and as a paralegal, where she assisted Crikey’s defence team in the high-profile defamation case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. Her reporting has been recognised nationally, earning her the 2021 Democracy’s Watchdogs Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.