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March 19, 2025
Backer Climate 200 already spends hundreds of thousands
Political funding group Climate 200 spent thousands of dollars on targeted ads unsuccessfully pressuring MPs to vote against election donation caps, in a bid to protect its cashed-up campaigns against the major parties.
The multimillion-dollar group ploughed up to $8,000 on ads railing against proposed changes to election spending laws, according to analysis of spending on Meta which owns Facebook and Instagram.
The ads were geo-targeted at Canberra from November 27 to 28, when politicians were at Parliament House, as speculation mounted that Labor and the Coalition were about to reach a deal over the reforms.
The specific ad appeared to pressure MPs to rethink the proposed changes with the ads stating 'Coalition self-sabotaging by supporting (Labor's) electoral reforms'.
The new laws which will cap the amount of cash any lower house candidate will be able to spend in one seat at $800,000 will come into effect at the 2028 election.
Climate 200 is bidding for another Teal wave after its 2022 campaign claimed several Liberal strongholds.
Spending information on Meta shows Climate 200 also spent $308,316 on ads between February 14 and March 15.
That was more for the same period than WA Premier Roger Cook, who paid almost $190,000 on his state election campaign, the Liberal Party ($147,777) and the federal government ($235,033).
Google ads show the group has already spent $25,400 on online advertising in March.
Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said Climate 200 was operating similarly to "American-style" big money campaigns.
"Working Australians would be shocked to learn Climate 200 poured big money into a covert online advertising campaign geo-targeted to hit the Parliamentary precinct in an attempt to influence votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate," he said.
Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court declared last week the group doesn't "run campaigns", but clarified he meant specific candidates' campaigns, meaning advertising campaigns were fair game.
"We don't run electoral campaigns for candidates ... we do run advertising campaigns to lift the salience of issues or to make people aware of independents," he said.
He has sent appeals to supporters to help candidate Nicolette Boele take on the Liberals in the Sydney seat of Bradfield.
"They're feeling the pinch of the longer election with some urgent payments coming up.
Can't cover it as it stands, $1m sent to campaigns in the last 10 days!" he wrote last week.