Election figures reveal multimillion-dollar race for CurtinKatina CurtisThe West AustralianMon, 20 October 2025 7:35AMEmail Katina Curtis
Kate Chaney spent almost $1.5 million on the campaign to retain her seat of Curtin at the May Federal election, new figures reveal.
The independent MP received $1,484,647 in donations from 1513 people and spent all but about $24,000 of it during the election.
The details of how much her Liberal opponent Tom White spent will remain under wraps until February, because parties have a different electoral funding disclosure timeframe from individuals.
But Liberals estimated during the election the party was spending more than $1 million on the seat.
In Forrest, community independent Sue Chapman raised $730,403 from 360 donors and spent almost $570,000 on the campaign that gave Liberal MP Ben Small a scare.
Kate Hulett’s late run at Fremantle, where she almost unseated Assistant Minister for Climate Change Josh Wilson, spent more than $400,000 on the campaign.
The figures published by the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday show Ms Hulett spent more than she received in donations, having brought in $366,779 from 216 people.
New electoral funding laws that will come into effect next July will mandate near-real time disclosure of donations, and cap the amount that can be spent on an individual campaign at $800,000 for a single seat or $90 million across the whole country.
Donors will be limited to giving $50,000 a year to a single recipient or up to $1.6 million to multiple recipients.
More to come
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