People, funding vehicles and disclosed connections.
This is not a rich list. It records wealthy individuals and family networks whose political donations, media ownership, campaign organisations, candidacies, think-tank support or policy advocacy are documented in public sources.
Expanded edition checked 29 August 2026
Inclusion does not imply wrongdoing, and a donation does not prove that a policy outcome was bought. Media ownership does not prove personal direction of every story. The point is to make concentrated resources and the mechanisms used to influence public debate visible across the political spectrum.
Jump to: Murdoch Rinehart Pratt Stokes Fox Palmer Holmes à Court Cannon-Brookes Farquhar Forrest Packer Fenwick Aitken Wall Keldoulis Turpie Lowy Triguboff Hemmes Craven Catsaras Kennard Anderson Macfie Gillespie Blackmore
Vehicle: News Corp and Fox Corporation. The Murdoch family’s control of major Australian news brands gives this profile a different mechanism from a conventional political donor: sustained ownership of agenda-setting media. Succession arrangements reported in 2025 consolidated Lachlan Murdoch’s control of the family trust. Ownership establishes structural power; it does not establish that either man personally directs every editorial decision.
Vehicle: Hancock Prospecting. The IPA appointed Rinehart an Honorary Life Member in 2016. Hancock disclosed $895,000 to Advance and $105,000 to the Victorian Liberals in 2024–25. Reuters reported in May 2026 that Rinehart provided a Cirrus aircraft to One Nation and that Hancock executives Adam Giles and Ian Plimer each committed $500,000 to the party. Her expanding media interests create an additional ownership dimension. The donations and relationships are confirmed; the resulting degree of policy influence cannot be measured from those facts alone.
Vehicle: Pratt Holdings and Visy. Pratt Holdings gave $2 million to Labor and $1 million to the Coalition in 2024–25, according to analysis of AEC disclosures. The pattern is important because it illustrates access-oriented cross-party giving rather than exclusive support for one ideological project. The public return records payments; it does not prove what access, if any, was obtained in exchange.
Vehicle: Australian Capital Equity and Seven West Media. The family combines a major Australian media stake with political giving. Australian Capital Equity gave $500,000 each to Labor and the Liberal Party in 2024–25, according to disclosure analysis. This is a media-and-money overlap: ownership and donations are documented, while any claim about coordinated editorial or policy outcomes would require separate evidence.
Vehicle: Linfox and Fox Group Holdings. Fox Group gave $500,000 each to Labor and the Liberal Party in 2024–25, according to disclosure analysis. This is the Australian transport and property family—not Fox Corporation, which is associated with the Murdochs. The profile shows another example of substantial equal giving to both major parties.
Vehicle: Mineralogy and Trumpet of Patriots. Mineralogy’s 2024–25 AEC donor return records $52,889,378 to political parties and $302,901 to significant third parties. Palmer’s model differs from donating to an established major party: he has repeatedly funded parties and national advertising campaigns connected to his own political projects. Expenditure demonstrates scale, not electoral effectiveness.
Vehicle: Climate 200. Holmes à Court founded and convenes a fundraising organisation that pools donor money and supports community-backed independent candidates. Climate 200 reported distributing $10.85 million to candidates in the 2025 election cycle; its annual donor return also recorded $2,709,200 to significant third parties in 2024–25. Those are organisational figures, not Holmes à Court’s personal donation total.
Vehicle: Boundless Earth and private donations. AEC disclosure analysis identified $1.3 million from Cannon-Brookes to Climate 200 in 2024–25. He also uses investment and philanthropic vehicles to advocate for decarbonisation. The recorded payment establishes financial support for independent campaigns, not control of the candidates who received Climate 200 funding.
Vehicle: personal political donations. The Atlassian co-founder gave $1.5 million to Climate 200 in 2024–25. Separate disclosure analysis also identified support for the Queensland Greens. This profile demonstrates that technology wealth, as well as mining, media and property wealth, finances political participation.
Vehicle: Minderoo Foundation and Tattarang. Forrest’s influence model includes philanthropy, public advocacy and investment in energy transition. In 2025 Minderoo confirmed an undisclosed donation to the Australia Institute. Because the amount was not public, this record should not be presented as directly comparable with disclosed party donations.
Vehicle: Consolidated Press Holdings. The company gave $150,000 to Advance in 2024–25. This provides a documented link between the Packer family’s private investment vehicle and a major conservative campaign organisation, but does not establish involvement in Advance’s daily strategy.
Vehicles: personal donations and organisational roles. ABC identified Fenwick as both a major Advance donor and an IPA director. The IPA’s 2026 Endowment Fund prospectus names him as a foundational partner, while he also became a director of Advance Generations. This is unusually dense personnel-and-funding overlap; it still does not prove that the organisations are under common control.
Vehicle: personal political funding. Reuters reported that Aitken, who had previously given about $230,000 to the Liberal Party, committed $1.1 million to One Nation in 2026. The change matters as evidence of a wealthy donor moving support from the Coalition to a populist competitor. The 2026 commitment should be distinguished from an AEC return already filed and published.
Vehicle: personal donation. Wall gave more than $5.2 million to the South Australian Liberal Party in 2024–25, making her one of that year’s largest disclosed individual political donors. Her inclusion prevents a focus only on nationally famous business figures: some of the largest political payments come from people who receive relatively little media attention.
Vehicle: Keldoulis Investments and personal donations. Disclosure reporting identified more than $1.5 million from Keldoulis Investments to Climate 200, more than $400,000 to Legalise Cannabis parties and a personal $100,000 donation to the Greens in 2024–25. The profile shows one donor supporting several non-major-party vehicles rather than a single party.
Vehicle: personal donations. AEC disclosure analysis identified about $1.05 million from Turpie to the Australian Greens in 2024–25. His profile is included so the chapter records concentrated private funding of progressive parties as well as conservative and independent campaigns.
Vehicle: Oryxium Investments. Analysis of the 2024–25 AEC disclosures identified $1.8 million from Oryxium, an investment company linked to the Lowy family, to the federal and New South Wales Liberal organisations. The vehicle name matters: searching only for “Lowy” would not reveal the disclosed company payment.
Vehicle: Meriton Properties and Meriton Property Services. AEC-derived records for 2024–25 show $500,000 to the Liberal Party, $100,000 to Labor and a further $20,000 to Liberal divisions. The same group gave $590,000 to Liberal organisations in 2023–24. This is a current example of a property fortune supporting both major parties, although the larger share went to the Coalition side.
Vehicle: Hemmes Trading and Merivale-linked fundraising. Hemmes Trading disclosed $312,469 to Liberal organisations in 2024–25. Hemmes also hosted a high-value Liberal fundraiser at his Sydney home before the 2025 election. The disclosed payments and event are confirmed; they do not establish that any government decision was made in return.
Vehicle: personal donations. The Stake co-founder’s 2024–25 AEC donor return records $315,000 to political parties; disclosure analysis identifies the recipient as Victorian Labor. This adds a current Labor-aligned billionaire profile and a gambling-and-cryptocurrency industry dimension to the chapter.
Vehicle: personal donations to Climate 200. Guardian analysis of the 2023–24 AEC disclosures identified just under $1 million from Catsaras to Climate 200; the AEC-derived cumulative record now places him among that organisation’s largest donors. This profile provides another example of concentrated private funding for climate-focused independent campaigns.
Vehicle: Siesta Holdings Australia. The Kennards Self Storage chief’s company donated $125,000 to Advance in 2024–25, following earlier disclosed support. Naming the private company alongside the individual makes the trail searchable and distinguishes a business vehicle from a personal payment.
Vehicles: personal donations and Hadley Holdings. Anderson gave $100,000 to Advance and $150,000 to the Liberal Party in 2024–25. Hadley Holdings had previously provided $1 million to Advance during the Voice campaign period. The profile records recurring support across a political party and a campaigning third party.
Vehicles: personal and family funding. Referendum-disclosure reporting identified $800,000 from Macfie and a family entity to No campaign organisations. The IPA’s 2026 Endowment Fund prospectus separately names Dr Bryant Macfie as a foundational partner. This establishes funding across an electoral campaign and the IPA’s permanent institutional capital; it does not prove the IPA directed the referendum campaign.
Vehicles: personal donations and institutional roles. The Bakers Delight co-founders each gave $50,000 to Advance in 2023–24; Roger Gillespie gave a further $50,000 in 2024–25. The IPA prospectus names both as foundational partners, and Lesley chairs the IPA Fundraising Committee. This is a documented overlap between campaign funding and long-term think-tank fundraising—not proof of common operational control.
Vehicle: personal donations. AEC-derived analysis records $40,000 from Blackmore to Advance in 2024–25, following a disclosed contribution during the Voice referendum period. The profile is included as recurring financial support for a campaigning third party; the donations alone do not establish involvement in campaign management.
| Mechanism | Examples in this chapter | What the evidence can establish |
|---|---|---|
| Party or candidate donation | Pratt Holdings, Pamela Wall, Craven, Hemmes and Meriton | A disclosed payment, recipient and reporting period—not a purchased outcome. |
| Campaign intermediary | Climate 200, Advance | Money pooled or deployed for campaigns; candidate or organisational independence must be assessed separately. |
| Direct political vehicle | Mineralogy and Trumpet of Patriots | Funding of a political project connected to the funder. |
| Media ownership | Murdoch, Stokes and Rinehart interests | Structural ownership and potential agenda-setting power—not personal authorship of every item. |
| Think-tank or philanthropic support | Fenwick, Hancock, Minderoo, Macfie and the Gillespies | Institutional support; influence over a particular publication or policy requires further evidence. |
How the AEC register works ↗ Search the AEC Transparency Register ↗ Grattan’s 2024–25 overview ↗