By Mikayla Van Loon
A local news title has been caught up in an Independent versus Coalition transparency argument after a complaint was filed against the publisher for not disclosing its funders.
Gazette News, publisher of digital news outlet The Eastern Melburnian among four others, was the subject of an Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) complaint filed by Victorian Senator Jane Hume on Tuesday.
The Liberal Senator claimed the news outlet was backed by Climate 200, the leading supporter of many of the independent candidates running for seats in the Federal election, telling Guardian Australia it was a “highly sophisticated domestic disinformation campaign”.
Addressing the National Press Club on Wednesday 12 March, Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court denied links to Gazette News.
“I don’t know a lot about Gazette. There’s no connection between Climate 200 and Gazette,” he said.
“I have met the founder of it before and I knew she was starting a business (it) sounds like a really interesting development in media.”
Gazette News founder and chief executive officer Anna Saulwick also denied “ties to any political group”, stating it was an independent news organisation.
“We don’t accept any funding from political organisations, and our editorial decisions are made entirely independently of our funders,” she said.
Ms Saulwick told Guardian Australia that the publication’s three major backers included Matt Doran, James Taylor and Mark Rawson.
AEC disclosures show that Mr Doran donated $100,000 to Climate 200 in the 2021-22 financial year and a further $128,800 in 2023-24.
Mr Taylor also donated $91,539 directly to independent ACT Senator David Pocock in the 2022-23 financial year, and the same amount the following year, alongside a $50,000 donation to Climate 200.
Ms Saulwick said with “relatively few philanthropists” in such a small country as Australia, she was pleased to have the backing of “people whose values align with our mission”.
The Gazette’s outlets covering eastern Melbourne, Gippsland and the Western region of Victoria, as well as New South Wales’ mid north coast and Sydney’s north shore, have not shied away from providing coverage of these regions’ independent candidates nor providing critical commentary of the Coalition’s nuclear policy.
A Gazette News report this week investigates the fallout of a potential nuclear leak in the Latrobe Valley. The only political voice in that story is Casey Independent candidate Claire Ferres Miles, who is backed by Climate 200.
But the pre-election coverage was also dotted with articles on other candidates from various political backgrounds.
Star Mail contacted Senator Hume’s office for comment but was supplied comments from an interview between ABC Radio Sydney Mornings host Hamish MacDonald and Senator James Paterson from Wednesday 12 March.
“When the Teals ran at the last election, they promised they would do politics differently. They said integrity was one of their top priorities and that they would fight for transparency,” the shadow home affairs minister told the ABC.
“And yet, it now emerges that Teal donors are funding pro-Teal fake newspapers covering the geographic areas which just happened to be seats the Teals are targeting at the next election.”
Senator Paterson said the Coalition had written to the AEC asking them to investigate what they believed “constitutes electoral expenditure”.
“If it is electoral expenditure, as in otherwise, it’s motivated to influence the outcome of an election, it needs to be declared, and it hasn’t been declared, and it is not being transparently disclosed to the electorate. Voters have a right to know,” he said.
Calling the Teal candidate coverage “uniformly positive”, Senator Paterson questioned the coincidence of the Liberal, National and Labor MPs coverage being “more critical”.
Ms Saulwick said the Gazette ensures all candidates are given coverage across its platforms.
“Our coverage includes all candidates in a race, ensuring that the public has access to balanced and comprehensive election reporting, not just coverage of major parties or frontrunners,” she told Star Mail.
“We think this is a strength, and an important contribution to the media landscape.”
This is the second time in the last month Senator Hume has questioned the integrity of the independent movement, after she questioned AEC Acting Commissioner Jeff Pope in Senate Estimates on Monday 24 February.
She claimed that four companies linked to Teal candidates were not correctly registered as electoral vehicles and were accepting donations without being added to the transparency register. Mr Pope confirmed the AEC had started to look into it.
“Not only has the AEC said that these candidates may be subject to significant fines if they are found to be in contravention of the Act, but donors may also be subject to penalties,” Mr Pope said.
Weighing in on the discussion, Nationals leader David Littleproud called Gazette News “the Teals’ ‘fake online news site’”.
“Regional media outlets and newspapers are the backbone of our regional communities,” Mr Littleproud said.
“A key funder of Gazette News falsely claims the outlet provides journalism to communities where local news has ‘declined or disappeared’. This just happens to be in their target seats.”
But Ms Saulwick retorted stating that “there will always be politicians who don’t like scrutiny and are willing to make false claims to damage those who scrutinise them”.
“Two thirds of Aussie media is owned by just four entities, and local and independent news outlets are disappearing or downsizing everywhere you look.
“We believe that expanding access to independent reporting is critical, and we want to contribute to media diversity in Australia by offering digital news, by locals and for locals.”
