Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting donated almost $900,000 to rightwing political campaign outfit Advance last financial year, while Clive Palmer was the country’s largest single donor , giving his own Trumpet of Patriots just over $53m.
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.
The company donated another $105,000 to the Liberal party’s Victorian division, while S Kidman & Co, the Rinehart-owned beef producer, donated $99,000 to the Western Australian Liberal division.
The data shows the 2025 federal election was a record high for political donations in Australia, without taking inflation into account. New rules are set to come into force in time for the next election, due by 2028.
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.
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.
Advance’s 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.
“Although Advance does not comment on any particular donor, every one has demonstrated they are willing to go above and beyond to defend this nation’s freedom, security and prosperity,” Sheahan said.
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.
Australia’s 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.
Clive Palmer’s company Mineralogy was the largest single donor in the period, handing the mining boss’s startup party Trumpet of Patriots $53.1m.
Palmer also donated $302,9012 to his United Australia party. The massive spend resulted in limited success, with neither party winning seats.
The latest data showed the Liberal and National parties in total spent nearly $215m ahead of the election, well ahead of Labor’s $160m. Despite the smaller spend, Labor roundly defeated the former Coalition, led by then opposition leader, Peter Dutton.
Labor’s 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.
Pratt Holdings, the company of billionaire Anthony Pratt, donated $2m to Labor. The company also donated $1m to the Liberal party.
Billionaire Kerry Stokes’ 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.
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The data also revealed the Adelaide-based philanthropist Pamela Wall donated $5.2m to the Liberal party’s South Australian division. Along with her late husband Ian Wall, the co-founder of electronics company Codan, Wall is one of the state’s biggest individual charitable donors.
The Liberal party banked $1.8m from Oryxium, an investment company linked to businessman Frank Lowy.
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’ Australian Capital Equity donated $500,000 to the Liberals.
Reclusive mathematician Duncan Turpie donated $1.05m to the Greens. Turpie has been one of the party’s biggest backers in recent years.
Climate 200, the pro-climate action backer of teal independents, declared $9.45m in donations in the period. Founded by businessman Simon Holmes à 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.
Some of its bigger donations came from Atlassian co-founders Scott Farquhar ($1.5m) and Mike Cannon-Brookes ($1.3m).
Keldoulis Investments, owned by one of Climate 200’s 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.
Hemmes Trading, the company of hospitality magnate Justin Hemmes, who hosted Peter Dutton for a lavish fundraiser at his Sydney home ahead of the May election campaign, donated more than $300,000 to the Liberals.
Pauline Hanson’s 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.
Fossil fuel companies donated strongly to the major parties, including $102,000 from Woodside and $133,715 from Chevron.
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.
Under changes to political donation rules, individuals will be able to donate up to $50,000 per year to a political candidate, while the source of all donations of $5,000 or more will have to be disclosed, down from the current threshold of $16,900.
The changes will limit the ability of major spenders to bankroll candidates. Third party groups will be limited to donating $50,000 a year to an individual candidate but could spend up to $11.2m annually on promotions.
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