Payback: The Australian Electoral Commission has announced its payments to candidates in this year’s Federal Election who received more than four per cent of the first preference vote.
Photo by
Bransen Gibson
Major Goulburn Valley players in this year’s Federal Election have benefited from the Australian Electoral Commission’s allocation of almost $76 million in funding payments.
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The payments are made to political parties and independent candidates across the nation, who received at least four per cent of the formal first preference vote at the 2022 election.
An initial payment of $10,656 was provided under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, but further funding was provided on application.
Unsuccessful Nicholls independent candidate Rob Priestly, as well as the Nationals’ Victorian branch, which saw its Nicholls candidate, Sam Birrell, elected, and the Liberal Party of Australia, which ran Steve Brooks as its candidate in the same seat, received the payment.
Eligible political parties and candidates were also able to receive election funding greater than the automatic payment after lodging a claim with the AEC setting out their electoral expenditure.
As a result, total national election funding paid out by the AEC for the 2022 election was $75,876,944.42, including $713,952 in the automatic payments and $75,162,992.42 in approved claims.
The biggest winner from the funding allocation, nationally, was the federal branch of the Australian Labor Party, which was granted $27,104,944.03. The Liberal Party of Australia was not far behind with $26,550,112.02.
A distant third was the Victorian branch of the Australian Greens with $3,023,677.14, and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation was next, receiving $3,003,118.86.
Independent Zali Steggall successfully retained her Sydney seat of Warringah in the 2022 election and was the leading independent recipient of election funding, with $121,898.45.
Sea of orange: Federal Member for Indi Helen Haines celebrates with supporters on election night after retaining the seat of Indi.
In second place was Helen Haines, who also managed to retain her seat of Indi, which takes in Benalla and Euroa. Dr Haines was paid $120,403.57 by the AEC.
Mr Priestly was paid $70,772.32 after mounting a strong challenge in Nicholls.
The AEC pays political parties at a national or state level and so has not broken down the figures for party candidates in individual electorates.
How much the AEC pays each candidate is calculated by multiplying the total number of formal first preference votes they received by the election funding rate, which for the period of the election was $2.914 per vote.
Based on that formula, Mr Birrell’s Nationals would have been paid $72,517.80 for his result in Nicholls and the Liberals $50,083 for Mr Brooks’ result.
Other candidates to win more than four per cent of first preference votes in Nicholls, and so attract payments for their parties, were Bill Lodwick for the Australian Labor Party (10,907), Robert Peterson for the United Australia Party (3821) and Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party (6219).
The Federal Election was not the last time Ms Tyrrell would stand for One Nation, having just been elected to Victoria’s upper house in November’s state election.
For Indi, apart from Dr Haines, candidates to poll more than four per cent of the first preference vote were Beth Stevens for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (5366), Nadia David for the Australian Labor Party (8723) and the Liberals’ Ross Lyman (30,995).
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