Inside the battle over ‘trust fund babies’ in Canberra

A political operative inside the Canberra bubble has blown up about “trust fund babies” and an ugly brawl over donations.

One of the men behind the Climate 200 political fundraising vehicle has flatly rejected claims the group is made up of “trust fund babies”.

Climate 200 executive director Byron Fay addressed the National Press Club address in Canberra on Wednesday, two months after the federal election success of a swag of the “teal” independent MPs it supported.

After his speech, Mr Fay was asked to respond to Victorian Liberal senator Jane Hume’s characterisation of the teals as a “large group of wealthy, trust fund babies that are the new bunyip aristocracy”.

Climate 200 executive director Byron Fay has addressed the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: LinkedIn

Mr Fay said Climate 200 was “incredibly proud” of the diversity of its donors, who came from “all walks of life”, with a third living in rural and regional Australia.

He revealed the candidates supported by the pro-climate group collectively amassed more than $13m in donations from 11,200 people, which allowed them to compete with the major parties.

Senator Hume had made the comments on Sky News in February. She went on to clash with Climate 200’s wealthy founder Simon Holmes a Court on more than one occasion.

In May, Mr Holmes a Court apologised to Senator Hume after he was filmed confronting her at a polling booth in Melbourne.

Victorian Liberal senator Jane Hume clashed with Climate 200’s founder Simon Holmes a Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Climate 200 backed more than 20 teal candidates across the country, including the high-profile and ultimately successful Zoe Daniel in Goldstein, Monique Ryan in Kooyong and Allegra Spender in Wentworth.

They were among the six teals who toppled sitting Liberal MPs in once blue ribbon inner-city electorates, four other teal incumbents were re-elected and one new teal Senator was elected to the upper house.

Mr Fay said Climate 200 would be “scrupulous” in its compliance with the Australian Electoral Commission’s requirements to divulge donors above the $14,500 disclosure threshold.

“The AEC has very clear timelines around that and so we will be complying with those timelines as the year unfolds,” he said.