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Financing minor parties and independents: composition, diversity and stability
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Financing minor parties and independents: composition, diversity and stability

Narelle Miragliotta, Josh Holloway, Rob Manwaring and Emily Foley
Australian journal of political science
2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2026.2670452
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Open Access CC BY-NC-ND V4.0

Abstract

Minor parties independents major parties political finance party system Australia
Non-major electoral players have attracted little interest in the political finance scholarship because such actors are vastly out funded by the major governing parties. As a result, we know very little about the funding regimes of non-major electoral competitors, even though such actors play an important role at Australian elections and in parliament. This paper analyses the funding sources of several non-major electoral competitors using official funding returns, paying particular attention to the amounts raised and the composition by source type. We find (not unexpected) differences in the funding profiles of independents and minor parties and between major and non-major electoral actors. The findings confirm that differences in organisational form – both type and scale – are consequential for fundraising capacity both in the aggregate (amount), composition and the diversity of the funder base. Organisational form is an important factor in shaping variation in donation receipts.

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