One Nation’s 2022 result
At the 2022 South Australian state election, One Nation won 3.4% of the statewide first-preference vote across both houses. On preferences, that elected a single upper-house member, Sarah Game (who has since quit the party). Labor and the Liberals finished well ahead.
The chart shows combined first-preference shares across both houses. Labor and the Liberals together took close to three-quarters of the vote; One Nation’s share sits near the bottom.
The 2026 result
At the 21 March 2026 election, One Nation won 22.9% of the House of Assembly vote and 24.4% of the Legislative Council vote — together 23.7% of the statewide vote, around 7 times its 2022 share. The Liberal vote fell by close to half. One Nation’s representation jumped to 7 members: the 4 lower-house seats and 3 upper-house seats it won in 2026. (Its one previous member, Sarah Game — elected in 2022 — left the party in May 2025.)
The bars above move from the 2022 shares to the 2026 result. The sections that follow set out what that result is worth in public funding.
The 2024 donation ban
On 1 July 2025, South Australia’s ban on political donations took effect. Under the Electoral (Accountability and Integrity) Amendment Act 2024, parties, candidates and MPs may no longer accept donations. The Act was passed by the major parties and described as removing private money from electoral politics.
In place of private donations, the Act provides public funding: a payment for each first-preference vote, and ongoing administrative funding scaled to a party’s sitting members, both drawn from the state budget. Voters do not direct where this funding goes. The 2026 election was the first held under the new rules, with One Nation returning a party room of 7.
The wall on the left begins empty. As the page continues, it fills to show the public funding One Nation’s 2026 result is worth over the next four years.
Per-vote public funding
Under the Act, a party receives $5.50 for each first-preference vote in either house, provided it clears the threshold (4% in the Assembly, 2% in the Council). One Nation cleared both.
Applied to its 534,028 votes across the two houses, the per-vote funding for the 2026 election is $2,937,154. On this wall — each brick $10,000, each row 12 bricks — that is several courses. It is the smaller of the two payments.
Administrative funding
The larger payment is administrative funding: an annual grant that scales with a party’s numbers. With 7 members, One Nation receives $520,000 each half-year — $1,040,000 a year — for as long as its members sit, indexed to inflation.
Each year adds a further band of bricks. After two years, the administrative grant has reached more than two-thirds of the per-vote payment beneath it, and it continues for the rest of the term.
Administrative funding to 2030
The grant runs to the next election. Across the 2026–2030 cycle, administrative funding totals $4,318,616. One Nation’s 3 upper-house members hold eight-year terms, so for them the grant continues four years beyond the cycle.
The administrative courses now exceed the per-vote base.
$7.3m over the four-year cycle
In total, One Nation’s 2026 result is worth $7,255,770 in public funding over the four-year cycle: $2,937,154 in per-vote funding and $4,318,616 in administrative funding. The party accepts no corporate donations and, under the Act, can no longer do so.
Far from reducing money in politics, the Malinauskas Government’s generous taxpayer funding for parties and candidates sets the 2030 election campaign up to be the biggest yet.Bill Browne · The Australia Institute
One Nation is not the only recipient: on the Australia Institute’s estimates, the same laws provide Labor about $10.0m and the Liberals about $9.0m over the cycle. For One Nation the change is largest — from a single seat and a small vote share to funding comparable to a major party.
This elevates One Nation to the level of a major party, at least in terms of administrative resources.Bill Browne · The Australia Institute
| Funding source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Per-vote public funding — 2026 election | $2,937,154 |
| Administrative funding — 2026–27 | $1,040,000 |
| Administrative funding — 2027–28 | $1,066,000 |
| Administrative funding — 2028–29 | $1,092,650 |
| Administrative funding — 2029–30 | $1,119,966 |
| Total across the cycle | $7,255,770 |
Under the donation ban, parties may not accept private donations; public funding takes their place. One Nation’s entitlement follows from its vote and the size of its party room, and is paid from the state budget irrespective of which party a given taxpayer supports.