Editing Openai/6943ef1c-da5c-8000-b9e5-a581407e95ea (section)

=== 1. Per-electorate campaign cap (proposed): 800,000 AUD per electorate per campaign. Australian Parliament House<ref>{{cite web|title=Australian Parliament House|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2425/25bd036|publisher=Australian Parliament House|access-date=2025-12-19}}</ref> ===
# 10 elections → campaign total: 800,000 × 10 = 8,000,000 AUD.
# Yearly admin / small office for candidate (estimate): 200,000 AUD/year × 30 = 6,000,000 AUD.
# One-off startup: 100,000 AUD (local office setup, signs, basic legal).
# Subtotal: 8,000,000 + 6,000,000 + 100,000 = 14,100,000 AUD.
# Contingency 5%: 14,100,000 × 0.05 = 705,000 AUD.
# Total (independent one-electorate): 14,100,000 + 705,000 = 14,805,000 AUD ≈ AUD 14.8 million.

This is a plausible upper-bound for an independent who spends up to the per-electorate cap every election and maintains a modest year-round operation.