Federal election 2025: Anonymous donors bankroll South West teal Sue Chapman’s ‘transparent’ campaign

A Federal teal candidate for the South West has shrugged off questions of political transparency despite her campaign being bankrolled by anonymous and Greens donors. Bunbury surgeon Sue Chapman’s website listed 87 anonymous donations on Sunday, including one worth $100,000, that her office blamed on a computer glitch on Monday. Dr Chapman confirmed at least one $10,000 anonymous donation was accurate. She denied granting them anonymity compromised promise of “greater transparency and accountability”. “I’ve demonstrated that by establishing a donor wall on my website and encouraging all donors to publicly declare themselves,” she said. “Given that this is a voluntary system, it is their choice to remain anonymous if they wish. “I encourage all candidates running in the election to take steps to improve their own integrity practices.” Dr Chapman is running in the seat of Forrest, where the retirement of veteran Liberal MP Nola Marino could put a margin of fewer than five per cent within reach. “If I’m elected, the people will have voted to do politics differently,” she said. A former member of the Greens, Dr Chapman refused to answer questions about any policy differences with the minor party. But Dr Chapman is also getting major financial support from long-term Greens supporters. Perth tech millionaire Norman Pater, founder of the Carbon Farming Foundation, donated $100,000 to the WA Greens and has put his name next to donations adding up to $130,000 for Dr Chapman’s campaign. Liberal candidate Ben Small said it was proof of a joint “teal-Greens radical agenda” at work. “It is not surprising to discover that a Greens donor is funding the campaign of former Greens member Sue Chapman, who vigorously campaigned against the biggest road project in the South West’s history and who will cheer as giant wind turbines are built in Geographe Bay,” he said. “The teal-Greens radical agenda is a huge threat to our regional economy and to local jobs.” Dr Chapman has also chipped in $154,057 of her own and received just over $95,000 from Climate 200, on top of a six-figure amount for in-kind advertising. The political lobby founded by Simon Holmes a Court is outspending the major parties on social media, as it targets the seats of Forrest, Moore and Curtin in WA. According to Meta’s ad tracker, Climate 200 has spent $599,410 in the past 90 days, compared to $226,713 by the ALP and a combined $369,377 by the Liberal Party — with $76,339 spent on a specific Liberal campaign targeting the “teals revealed”. Dr Chapman has spent $53,990 on Meta ads, but the biggest individual spend by far is $147,246 by Curtin MP Kate Chaney. Her Liberal rival, Tom White, has spent $6358 on 11 ads. “You have to laugh when you hear someone like Kate talking about getting the big money out of politics, I mean she’s spent more money than any candidate in the history of this seat,” Mr White said. “This is the climate lobby, the Climate 200 playbook being rolled out and, in fact, super charged from this election.” Ms Chaney’s campaign has also received $6,500 from Mr Pater, but almost half of her big donors are based on the East Coast. A breakdown of 63 donations larger than $2000 includes 30 from donors who are based in Victoria, New South Wales or overseas. That includes more than $270,000 donated by Climate 200, $50,000 by Sydney share trader Robert Keldoulis’ investment company, $50,000 by Wycombe Services, that is run by a Sydney doctor, and $50,000 by Keep Them Honest Pty Ltd. Keep Them Honest was established by Sydney stockbroker Fred Woollard and his wife Therese Cochrane, who is part of Wentworth teal MP Allegra Spender’s constituent liaison team. The Keep Them Honest fund has also donated six-figure amounts to the Greens, but the NSW Greens previously handed back a $7000 cheque over links to the fossil fuel industry after it was revealed the Woollard’s Samuel Terry investment fund has stock in Horizon Oil and Diamond Offshore Drilling. Ms Chaney did not respond to questions on Sunday. The battle over the western suburbs seat of Curtin has become heated, with the Liberals desperate to win it back and accusing Ms Chaney of being anti-gas. “(Ms Chaney) is overwhelmingly a supporter of the Greens,” Mr White said. “There’s a lot of speculation about a hung parliament and people, quite rightly, want to know who she would support in that scenario and once again she’s very unclear.” Launching her campaign in City Beach on Sunday, Ms Chaney who’s father Michael was a long-time chairman Woodside, told The Sunday Times that politics is “a bloody tough life” but vowed to listen to both sides in the event of a hung parliament. “There are lots of different circumstances that would have to line up in order for my vote to be needed,” she said. “I would continue to vote independently on every piece of legislation.”