Millions of dollars have been paid out to political parties and candidates following the election. Why?

Taxpayers are footing a major bill after the 2022 federal election.

Labor will be reimbursed more than $25 million after the federal election. Source: AAP / LUKAS COCH/AAPIMAGE

KEY POINTS

• AEC to pay out more than $75 million to parties and candidates
• Election saw decline in support for major parties
• United Australia Party recoups just $2m after $100m splurge.

Taxpayers will foot a more than $75 million bill that will go to political parties and candidates that contested the federal election, which saw Australian voters abandon the major parties in record numbers.

The Australian Electoral Commission has finalised its funding for the May poll, with money flowing into the accounts of any candidate to receive at least 4 per cent of the first preference vote.

Payments scaled up depending on their performance, meaning Labor will take the largest slice of the $75.9 million pie, pocketing $27,104,944.

But despite returning to power after almost a decade in the wilderness, its historically low primary vote - 32.58 per cent - means that figure is just a $2.4 million increase on its 2019 payout.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer will see less than $2 million returned to his party, after splurging nearly $100 million on a campaign that saw United Australia Party adverts saturate the airwaves.

And after a strong showing by other minority parties and independents, both the Greens and One Nation will enjoy larger compensation than 2019, while a handful of independents who entered parliament will receive six-figure payouts.

The Coalition will pocket more than $30 million, split between the Liberal Party ($26,550,122) and the Nationals ($3,654,199), who clung onto their seat count despite a national swing against the former government.

Successful independent candidates, including the so-called "teal" wave which seized six blue-ribbon Coalition seats, will rake in more than $1.3 million collectively.

The highest earners in that cohort are ACT senator David Pocock ($176,023) and long-serving MP Bob Katter ($162,785).

The United Australia Party made a considerable loss on its campaign, and won just one senate seat.

The Greens will pocket more than $10.5 million, after making historic gains in the lower house and increasing their representation in the Senate.

One Nation's payout has also jumped over the $3 million mark, the party boosting its national primary vote to nearly 5 per cent by running candidates in almost all lower house seats.

Despite spending nearly $100 million on its campaign, the United Australia Party will receive less than $2 million after winning just one senate seat.

The UAP's national primary vote climbed slightly - to 4.7 per cent - but the party fell well short of its promise to form government.

Following any federal election or by-election, the parties and candidates are eligible to apply for reimbursement for electoral expenditure.

That includes actions a broad range of election-related spending, from focus-group testing potential advertising to transporting party delegates to a campaign launch.

The system has existed since 1984, when the rate was 61.2c per vote in the House of Representatives and 30.6c in the Senate, compared to $2.91 now.

How Australia's vote is changing

The May poll continued a trend of Australians turning their backs on the major parties, as voters installed the largest crossbench in the nation's history.

A leading survey on the 2022 election found just 36 per cent of voters now said they always opted for the same party, a figure which stood at 72 per cent in 1967.

The Australian Election Study claimed the Coalition was "severely punished" for its perceived poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the personal unpopularity of former prime minister Scott Morrison.

But its loss of 18 seats, driven by a swing of more than 4 per cent against the Liberal Party, did not translate to a boost for Labor, which also saw its primary vote drop by 0.76 per cent.

Primary vote gains were instead made by the Greens (+1.85 per cent), One Nation (+1.88 per cent), the Jacqui Lambie Network (+0.16 per cent) and the United Australia Party (+0.69 per cent).