The candidates are colloquially grouped by the media as the teal independents, reflecting the campaign colour chosen by some (but not all) of its candidates. The colour teal has been explained as indicating their policies are "a shade between blue Liberal and green."[3]
With a background in renewable energy and climate policy, Holmes à Court wrote an article in 2018 that was critical of the Coalition's efforts to keep coal fired power stations open.[5] Holmes à Court was thrown out of Frydenburg's group within 24 hours after the article was released, but this gave him an insight into major fundraising for campaigns.[4]
For the 2022 federal election, the group provided funding for twenty-three candidates[6] who were either independent or running for minor parties, including most of the teal independents. Some of these candidates were also endorsed by Voices groups.[7] They also endorsed additional "values-aligned candidates" without funding them.[6]
The focus of the group was to get more people on the crossbench who aimed to strengthen climate policy and the functioning of parliament.[7][8]
The group announced a number of high-profile former MPs to join their advisory panel from across the political spectrum.[9]
In October 2021 the group announced that they had raised $2 million in 6 weeks.[10] By December 2021 that had grown to $6.5 million from 6,750 donors.[11] The group also conducted polling in some of the seats that they planned to support.[12]
Climate 200 announced their support for a number of independent candidates in the Victorian state election. The candidates were Kate Lardner for Mornington, Melissa Lowe for Hawthorn, Sophie Torney for Kew, and Nomi Kaltmann for Caulfield.[13] No independents won seats at the election, with all incumbent independents being defeated.
In total Climate 200 Pty Ltd together with Simon and Karina Holmes a Court directly donated $45,804.70 to six candidates between 1 October 2022 and 25 March 2023. The total individual donations to Climate 200 Pty Ltd during the campaign were $166,665.59 of which $49,727.28 originated from individuals not enrolled to vote in New South Wales.[35]
Climate 200 is a fund that distributes resources to its chosen candidates; however, there are many who claim that it is a political party.[38][39] Holmes à Court rejected this notion in a February 2022 National Press Club address.[40] He says that the money that the candidates receive have no strings attached and Climate 200 has no control over them.[41] In September 2021, Senator Andrew Bragg wrote to the Australian Electoral Commission to ask them to ensure that group were fulfilling all the requirements for disclosures for political donations.[42] In December 2021, the federal parliament passed a law to require "significant third parties" to register if they spend more than $250,000 on electoral expenditure in a year.[43]
There is a view that Climate 200 is a vehicle for people opposed to the Liberal Party to defeat it in seats that are unwinnable by the Australian Labor Party. The Australian Financial Review in February 2022 described Climate 200 as "an anti-Liberal Party fundraising vehicle controlled by renewable-energy advocate Simon Holmes à Court [which is running] Independents funded by Mr Holmes à Court ... in about 20 Liberal-held seats...".[44]Antony Green, ABC chief elections analyst, stated in April 2022 that these independents are running in "winnable seats ... but these are seats that Labor would never win, the Greens wouldn't win — these are safe Liberal seats."[3]
There were 22 candidates supported by Climate 200 at the 2022 Australian Federal Election.[45] 15 contested Coalition incumbents, 3 were independents who held previously Liberal held seats, and 2 were senate candidates in the ACT where they contested the seat then held by Zed Seselja.[46][47] Wilkie and Leanne Minshull, an independent Senate candidate in Tasmania, were the only two that not directly contesting Coalition held seats. Independents with similar platforms to those endorsed by Climate 200 who ran in Labor held seats, such as Sarina Kilham in Grayndler held by Anthony Albanese, Leader of the Labor Party, were not endorsed.[48] Jo Dyer, the supported candidate in Boothby, a Liberal seat indicated she would support a Labor minority government,[49] and Dr Monique Ryan, the supported candidate in Kooyong, then held by Josh Frydenberg, is a former Labor member.[50]
^"Sarina Kilham - Your Vote Your Voice". Sarina Kilham. Sarina Kilham, Independent Candidate for Grayndler for Your Vote Your Voice. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
