Electoral scenarios

Administrative funding after Hopper

Five financial years (1 Jul 2025 → 30 Jun 2030) of Victorian administrative expenditure funding under the 2018 Act schedule that was in force before the High Court’s decision, compared with the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026 — party by party, archetype by archetype.

2018 Act vs 2026 Act — by archetype

A rate-card view: how much each kind of recipient draws in administrative funding over the next five financial years under the 2018 Act, and under the 2026 Act. Read each row as an archetype — if you’re a single-member RPP, an elected independent, or a major party pinned to the 45-MP cap, what does the 2026 Act put in your pocket between now and the 2030 election?

Archetype2018 Act2026 ActDiff (5 FY)
Labor
69 MPs, capped at 45
$11,592,727$14,533,748+$2,941,021
Liberal
32 MPs
$8,620,957$10,775,473+$2,154,516
National
11 MPs
$3,820,405$4,704,414+$884,009
→ Coalition combined
Lib + Nat at separate party caps
$12,441,362$15,479,887+$3,038,526
Greens
7 MPs
$2,906,014$3,548,022+$642,008
Single-member RPP
1 MP
$1,305,987$1,576,899+$270,911
Elected indie
1 MP (indie tier)
$1,305,987$1,576,899+$270,911
Not-elected indie
first-time candidate, no win
Not eligible for administrative funding.
$0$0$0

The 2018 Act indie rate equals the party first-member rate (Act s.215 parity). A not-elected candidate receives no administrative funding under either schedule. Labor exceeds the 45-MP cap and is paid at the cap.

2018 Act vs 2026 Act — the system

Now apply the same comparison to the Victorian Parliament as it stands today (snapshot from 2026-05-28). Every party appears at its real headcount; the Total row is the system-wide uplift across the 5 FYs, and the last column is each party’s share of it. See the notes below for the sitting-independents assumption.

ArchetypeMPs2018 Act2026 ActDiff% of total diff
Labor
69*$11,592,727$14,533,748+$2,941,02136%
Liberal
32$8,620,957$10,775,473+$2,154,51626%
National
11$3,820,405$4,704,414+$884,00911%
Greens
7$2,906,014$3,548,022+$642,0088%
Animal Justice
1$1,305,987$1,576,899+$270,9113%
Legalise Cannabis
2$1,763,025$2,102,531+$339,5064%
Libertarian
1$1,305,987$1,576,899+$270,9113%
One Nation
1$1,305,987$1,576,899+$270,9113%
Shooters Fishers Farmers
1$1,305,987$1,576,899+$270,9113%
Sitting indies × 3 — FY26 only
3$745,380$900,000+$154,6202%
Total — 5 FY (Jul 2025 → Jun 2030)
128$34,672,458$42,871,783+$8,199,326100%

* Labor’s 69 MPs exceed the 45-MP cap and are funded at the cap. Rows sum to 99% due to rounding; the four 3% lines all round down from 3.30%.

Notes & assumptions

  • 2026 Act modelled. The “2026 Act” column reflects the administrative-expenditure funding schedule in the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026.
  • No seats change hands. The projection assumes the current composition of the Legislative Assembly holds through the November 2026 election. This is unrealistic, but it isolates the effect of the funding rules from any change in who wins seats.
  • Sitting independents are the one exception. They are assumed to lose at the November 2026 election, so they only collect FY26 admin funding at the indie rate and nothing for the 2026–2030 cycle.

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