Teal MP Kate Chaney, who was elected in 2022 after raising $1.3m for her campaign, previously said that a new independent would have an $800,000 campaign spending cap, “it appears that each political party can spend $90m, shifting that money around to support any member who is being threatened by a newcomer”.
The Greens and crossbenchers believed the major parties had struck a deal on Tuesday morning, suggesting the new agreement would increase individual donation caps from $20,000 to $40,000, and the disclosure threshold could be raised from $1,000 to $5,000.
Crossbench braces for major party ‘stitch-up’ as Labor-Coalition electoral reform deal looms Greens and independents say bill to introduce spending and donation caps risks crowding out new challengers.
Under the current proposal, each electorate and independent candidate would have a total cap of $800,000, while a federal political party would have a campaign cap of $90m.
Don Farrell has signalled Labor’s stalled overhaul to electoral reforms will be voted on in the next 24 hours as the crossbench braces for a major party “stitch-up” to introduce spending and donation caps.
