Chaney details $1.3m funding haul

Climate 200 was far and away the largest single donor to Kate Chaney’s successful election campaign, with returns showing more than half her donations came courtesy of the fund.

Recent disclosures to the Australian Electoral Commission show Ms Chaney's campaign spent approximately $970,000 in her successful bid to wrest the blue-ribbon seat of Curtin in Perth’s western suburbs from Liberal MP Celia Hammond.

She won the seat by an exceedingly narrow margin amid a broader wave of victories for ‘teal’ independents, who ran on platforms stressing climate action and integrity in politics.

Almost all Ms Chaney’s donations above the $14,500 threshold came courtesy of Climate 200, which contributed $780,000 to her campaign.

Other donors listed in her campaign's offical return are Rosemary Chaney, Wayne Smit, and Tony Fairweather.

While that accounts for more than half of funds Ms Chaney's campaign received, it’s a smaller representation of her donor base, with the AEC showing her as having 653 donors.

Ms Chaney’s website has provided a breakdown of the figures, showing $975,000 was donated in cash to her campaign, a further $300,000 comprising in-kind services, and $50,000 from Climate 200, which was later returned.

About 850 separate donations are detailed on an accompanying donor wall.

Climate 200, meanwhile, listed just one donor based in Western Australia – Mike Biggs – who donated $10,000 to the fund in October 2021 and another $10,000 in February.