Climate 200 says it recorded a surge in first-time donors in November off the back of a donation-matching campaign comparing the Coalition and Peter Dutton to the politics of Donald Trump.
The funding aggregator claims to have raised $377,000 from 3,900 donations including 1,373 people who donated to it for the first time, the biggest wave of first-time supporters since it was launched in 2021.
Meta’s ad library reveals that the result was driven by a pledge to double donations given in the days after Trump’s US election victory, with ads linking the Coalition to Trump on issues including access to abortion and questioning its commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.
When some in the Coalition raised the issue of abortion, Dutton said there would be no change in the opposition’s policy.
Climate 200 raised $13m from 11,200 donors before the 2022 election, helping to elect six new independent MPs and the senator David Pocock, and to re-elect the MP Zali Steggall.
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According to its November 2024 donation statistics, Climate 200 raised $377,000 with an average donation size of $95 and the most common donation $30. Some 88% of donations were under $100 and 98% were under $500, it said.
In the days leading up to the US election, Climate 200’s ads accused Dutton of thinking “fossil-fuel-funded attack ads are enough to win back seats Liberals lost to pro-climate independents in the last election”. They also highlighted the success of the independent Jacqui Scruby at the Pittwater byelection in New South Wales.
After Trump’s victory Climate 200 asked its supporters if they “want to feel different on our election night”, in an ad illustrated by a split portrait with half of Trump’s face and half of Dutton’s.
An ad with a similar image urged supporters to “let Dutton know we won’t stand for Trump’s politics in Australia”.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
