Failed teal Alex Dyson blames ‘errors’ for $1.1m discrepancy

Failed teal candidate Alex Dyson blames clerical errors for a $1.1m discrepancy in his campaign finances as Climate 200’s election spending hits record heights.

Climate 200 made almost $11m in donations to teal candidates at the last election.

Three-time unsuccessful teal candidate Alex Dyson says clerical ­errors led to a $1.1m discrepancy between how much official figures say his campaign spent and how much it received in donations.

Australian Electoral Commission disclosures on Monday showed Climate 200 had made almost $11m in donations at the last election, up from $6m in 2022.

Independent candidates spent $29m at the 2025 election, up from $16m in 2022 – far outstripping the $1m level at which the spending bounced around until 2016.

There were discrepancies between Mr Dyson’s voluntary donations disclosure log and the AEC returns figures, namely: $1.1m more in donations received than in election spending; a $420,000 difference between his figures and those of the AEC’s in Climate 200’s contribution, and a $300,000 difference between his figures and those of the AEC’s in share trader Rob Keldoulis’s donation to his campaign.

When contacted for comment, Mr Dyson said this was due to an error in filing in-kind donations. “That is, expenses incurred by others but in support of our campaign were mistakenly categorised, which led to the error,” he said.

He said that instead of $1.1m, the campaign saved $217,181 from donations to be spent on future independent Wannon campaigns.

“I’m liaising with the AEC to ensure this cost breakdown is reflected correctly in their data.”

And back on the overall picture, Climate 200 was the largest donor to teal candidates, followed by Mr Keldoulis who donated almost $3.3m to independent candidates. He was the second-largest independent backer of teals in both the 2022 and 2025 elections.

In terms of election spending, Allegra Spender and Monique Ryan still topped the rankings among the teal independents but both spent less than they did in 2022. In 2025, Ms Spender spent $1.9m on her campaign compared to $2.1m the election prior. And in 2025, Dr Ryan spent $1.9m, compared to $2.1m. Zoe Daniel, who won Goldstein in 2022 but lost in 2025, was the third best funded teal candidate in the 2025 election, spending $1.8m.

The election returns do not contain figures for political parties, which are instead covered by the annual returns regime, expected early next year.

Climate 200 spent $10.9m on donations in the 2025 election. For reference, the total amount spent by all federal, state, and territory branches of the Greens in 2023-24 was $15.8m. It outstrips the $6m Climate 200 spent in 2022.

Special Minister of State Don Farrell said the government’s electoral reforms passed in the last term of parliament would “stop the billionaire arms race in federal elections by capping expenditure and donations”.

“That included significantly increasing transparency in our elections by lowering the threshold for public reporting of donations and increasing the frequency of reporting,” he said.

“Australians deserve to know who is funding their elections, and our reforms deliver this.”

Mr Keldoulis and his private company were the second largest donors to independent candidates in 2025, collectively spending $3.3m. Third was Keep Them Honest, a private company owned by investment managers Fred Woollard and Therese Cochrane, who increased donations to $591,000 to independents, up from $170,000 the election prior.

Fourth was Regional Voices Fund, led by businesswoman Lorraine Gordon, a new player in the field in 2025 which gave $450,000 to independent candidates.

Fifth was Vida Impact Fund, which counts among its board members former Adelaide Writers’ Week director and teal Boothby candidate Jo Dyer, influencer Hannah Ferguson and student ­activist Anjali Sharma. It spent $376,517 at the 2025 election on independent candidates.

Climate 200 focused its spending on flipping seats, as its more ­established candidates got more funding from other donors.

Carolyn Heise, who challenged Nationals incumbent Pat Conaghan in Cowper, received the most of all the candidates from Climate 200 at $1,127,997.

Second was Benjamin Smith, who challenged Liberal incumbent Zoe McKenzie in Flinders, and received $1,024,701.

Third was Deborah Leonard in Monash, with $995,974, and fourth was Alex Dyson in Wannon, with $983,211.