Alex Dyson, the former Triple J host who has failed to topple Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan at three federal elections, received almost $2.2m for his latest campaign, topping the list of donations for individual candidates in the May poll.
The independent candidate for Wannon received $2,186,936 from 1,786 donors to challenge Tehan in the regional Victorian seat, Australian Electoral Commission data released on Monday showed.
The data shows Dyson’s electoral spending was almost $1.1m, suggesting $1.1m was unspent in his campaign.
Dyson told Guardian Australia said an administrative error was behind the disparity, and his campaign’s expenditure totalled nearly $2m. He said he was in the process of correcting the data with the AEC – in a statement, the electoral body confirmed it would review any issues.
“I hope, despite the result, [my campaign] helps turn around the distinct lack of fairness in federal funding south-west Victoria receives for our ageing roads, sporting clubs and infrastructure, which sadly still far outstrips what we were able to spend on our 2025 campaign,” he said.
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Dyson was unsuccessful in his third attempt against Tehan, winning 46.7% of the vote on a two-candidate preferred basis.
The AEC’s election returns data is the first look at how much candidates and federal politicians received from individual donors and spent on their campaigns.
It does not include figures from political parties or third-party groups, like Labor or the Liberals, which are released next February.
The donations data shows 19 of the top 20 in the federal 2025 election were independent candidates, associated with Climate 200 or Regional Voices backing.
Of those 19 candidates, six – Monique Ryan, Zali Steggall, Allegra Spender, Kate Chaney, Sophie Scamps and Helen Haines – were successful in their electoral bids with a total of $8.3m donations.
Following Dyson, Caz Heise received the second-highest total of donations, receiving $2.1m from 55 donors.
Zoe Daniel, who received $1.8m in donations from 1,917 donors, was unsuccessful in being re-elected in May, narrowly losing to Liberal MP Tim Wilson 50.1% to 49.9% on a two-candidate margin.
Climate 200 topped the list for political donors, offering $10.9m to candidates and receiving $9.5m in donations.
In a media release after the data’s release, the pro-climate action funding vehicle praised its efforts in the election campaign and said its losing candidates were well-placed for the 2028 election.
Climate 200 said its donations had tripled since the 2022 election, growing to 33,000 donors.
But the group warned the major parties, whose election returns won’t be released until February, were still far outspending them.
“While the exact party expenditure figures won’t be published for several months, the fact [Labor, the Coalition and the Greens] spent close to half a billion dollars in the lead up to the 2022 election is indicative of what they would have spent in 2025,” the group’s director, Byron Fay, said.
“While there are no silver medals in politics, 10 independents came closer to winning in 2025 than Nicolette Boele did in 2022, leaving them well placed for 2028.”
Other top donors included the share trader Robert Keldoulis and his investment firm Keldoulis Investments Pty Limited, which jointly contributed $3.3m. Keldoulis also topped the donor list in 2023-24, donating $1.1m.
Keep Them Honest, owned by financier Fred Woollard and his wife, lawyer Therese Cochrane, donated $591,000.
The Regional Voices Fund, which backed independent candidates in regional seats, offered $450,000 and received $295,000.
Electoral law changes passed earlier this year will prevent individual donations of more than $50,000 while any donations over $5,000 will need to be disclosed.
There will also be campaign spending limits of $800,000 per electorate, and $90m nationally.
The special minister of state, Don Farrell, said Labor’s changes would stop the “billionaire arms race in federal elections”.
“Australians deserve to know who is funding their elections and our reforms deliver this.”
