United Australia party’s $80m-plus war chest sparks call to limit election spending

The United Australia party's warning it will outspend its 2019 campaign in the looming election has prompted calls for urgent reforms to limit party expenditure.

Integrity experts have claimed this would stop money distorting the electoral process.

The Centre for Public Integrity released a reform blueprint on Wednesday aimed at removing the influence of money in federal politics and fixing what it described as the "weakest donation laws in the country".

The paper recommended lowering the donation disclosure threshold to $1,000, implementing donations caps, and beefing up the Australian Electoral Commission, giving it a new dedicated enforcement division to better police donation laws.

The UAP's recent suggestion it will outspend its $80m election campaign in 2019 also prompted the Centre for Public Integrity to call for urgent expenditure caps.

Even well before the campaign proper begins, the UAP's social media spending alone is vast.

A Guardian analysis of YouTube ads shows the party has spent an average of $472,625 each week for the past six weeks, totalling $2.83m on the platform alone in 2022. Its spend on ads across other mediums - including print, radio and digital - has been estimated at more than $31m since August.