From 1 July 2025, the requirement to disclose reportable donations that are made to electoral participants has come into effect for the 2025 House of Assembly election.

The obligation to disclose applies to a range of electoral participants, including registered parties and candidates, independent members, associated entities, third-party campaigners and significant political donors.

This requirement, as stipulated by the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023, aims to promote transparency in political funding.

The disclosure covers donations of $1,000 or more, whether as a single sum or aggregated over a year, and can include money, use of facilities, provision of services, or payment of electoral expenditure on behalf of an electoral participant.

The complete details and the obligations on electoral participants are available here.

As at 16:35 Tuesday 15 July 2025, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission has published their first report for this current election which covers the first seven days of July 2025.

The sum total of all disclosures as at this date is $192,442.

The largest donation of $30,000 to the Australian Labor Party was made from the Plumbing & Pipe Trades Employees Union Federal Office. The Cement Industry Federation came in at $11,000 to the Tasmanian Division of the Liberal Party.
Hospitality Tasmania donated a total of $16,600 with $10,000 going to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, $4,800 to Dean Winter and $1,800 to Rebekah Pentland. Paul Thomas donated $10,000 to the Tasmanian Greens.

The spread of the donations over the first is as follows.

Liberal Party including various candidates $60,772
Labor Party including various candidates $54,921
The Greens including various candidates $39,450
Peter George, independent $13,999
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party $10,000
Michelle Dracoulis, independent $5,000
Rebekah Pentland, independent $3,800
The National Party $2,500
Elise Archer, independent $2,000

Whilst the data in this very first TEC report in itself is not significant for this election, it is the future for transparency in Tasmanian elections.

Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.

Support us in expanding our coverage and developing new content by and for Tasmanians. 

New initiatives on the way include:

  • a weekly podcast covering current affairs
  • a revamped website
  • a monthly cartoon competition
  • a user-friendly app for both Android and Apple devices
  • a weekly roundup of key stories