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

=== - Law changes: campaign spending caps, donation caps, or public funding changes (several reforms were proposed in 2024–2025) would directly change the “maximum” legal spend per election. I used the recent reform figures as the cap reference. 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> ===
* Type of contest: running for Senate vs House vs state elections changes costs. State campaigns and multi-state presence increase overall cost. My “maximum” focused on federal national campaigning (largest scale).
* Public funding / reimbursements: public funding reduces net private fundraising needs; but if you want the gross maximum expense (money spent), public funding increases the money circulating in campaigns (because reimbursements offset private costs). AEC publishes election funding rules and payments. Australian Electoral Commission<ref>{{cite web|title=Australian Electoral Commission|url=https://www.aec.gov.au/parties_and_representatives/public_funding/|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|access-date=2025-12-19}}</ref>
* Inflation & media costs: digital advertising, TV, and large-scale media buying could push actual costs above caps (if caps are removed). Historical AEC figures show federal election administration costs (the cost to run the election itself) and large campaign spend in recent cycles. Australian Parliament House<ref>{{cite web|title=Australian Parliament House|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2022/May/The_price_of_democracy|publisher=Australian Parliament House|access-date=2025-12-19}}</ref>