Caz Heise’s face has been all over the Mid North Coast as the healthcare professional pushes to win the seat of Cowper in Saturday’s election.

The former district Director of Nursing and Midwifery has positioned herself as a candidate driving to improve care in regional Australia, saying a 2019 cancer diagnosis only further deepened her insight into how the health system in rural and regional areas needs to be improved.

Running for the seat of Cowper for the second consecutive election, Independent Caz Heise is hoping to build on the momentum she generated in 2022 and unseat incumbent MP, Nationals’ Pat Conaghan. Cowper has been a Nationals stronghold since the 1960s, and Heise represents a significant danger to those who would maintain the status quo.

Here we’ll dive into what we know about Voices4Cowper, the group that “chose” Heise, as well as her funding – something she says is made up of donations from hundreds of local contributors as well as political funding body Climate 200, but that opponents say is heavily weighted towards the latter.

How did Caz Heise become an Independent candidate for the seat of Cowper?

Heise began her journey into politics through Voices4Cowper, a volunteer-run organisation made up of members across the electorate. Voices4Cowper organisers say the group has no affiliation with any political party.

Co-founded in 2019 by Gillian Anderson and James Tonson, Voices4Cowper was created out of the desire to do democracy differently, and modelled on a similar group in Victoria, Voices for Indi.

Anderson told the Mid North Coaster she has been involved in the community in a voluntary capacity for much of her life, and that Tonson has extensive professional experience in community development.

“People need to be heard, and the community weren't feeling like they were being heard. That’s what drove James and I,” Anderson said.

The co-founders started by organising small discussion groups all over Cowper, that were facilitated and scribed. Participants were asked set questions, and able to answer without interruption.

They called these intimate discussions Kitchen Table Conversations (KTCs), inspired by Executive Director of the Victorian Women’s Trust, Mary Crooks. Crooks developed the KTC model to engage people in honest conversations that can lead to change.

Voices4Cowper also distributed the community survey via email, social media and community groups, speaking to people at street and market stalls, and hosting events throughout the region.

The answers gathered at the KTCs and survey were later released as a report on the key issues the representatives of the Cowper community wanted to be addressed by all levels of government.

Shortly after releasing its report, the group began searching for a representative to stand for election in Cowper. The directive: make decisions based on community needs, not party lines.

Voices4Cowper initiated a process to select an Independent candidate. It received expressions of interest from the public, followed by an open selection process and a vote that resulted in Caz Heise being endorsed as the Independent candidate for the seat of Cowper for the 2022 election.

At that federal poll Heise secured more than a quarter (26.26 percent) of the primary vote. After preferences were distributed, she had 47.7 percent of the vote, with National MP Pat Conaghan holding the seat with 52.3 percent.

Voices4Cowper repeated its candidacy process in 2024 and Heise was once again backed as the Independent candidate.

How is Heise funded?

The Caz Heise campaign says it is funded by 700 locals, Climate 200 and the Regional Voices Fund. 

But unlike other candidates funded by Climate 200, including Alex Dyson (Wannon), Kate Hook (Calare) and Deb Leonard (Monash), Heise would not say how much the group is tipping into her campaign. The three aforementioned candidates are receiving $247,000 (Hook), $476,000 (Leonard) and $486,000 (Dyson), per the ABC.

When asked to specify how much Climate 200 had contributed to her 2025 election campaign, Heise told the Mid North Coaster that she follows the Australian Electoral Commission guidelines.

“I will, of course, abide by all AEC reporting guidelines — as I assume every party and candidate should. That’s the law, and it’s only fair that everyone plays by the same rules.”

Heise said two crowdfunding organisations – Climate 200 and the Regional Voices Fund – had supported her campaign, both backed by “tens of thousands of Australians who believe the major party system is broken”.

“This support helps level the playing field against major parties, who take millions from Coles and Woolworths, the big banks, fossil fuel companies and gambling giants.”

Where does the funding go?

Heise says the challenge for an Independent candidate is to become known across an electorate that covers 7,296 square kilometres, from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour.

The Heise campaign says funding is partly spent on promotions such as billboards, yard signs, TV and bus stop ads. She acknowledges that the advertising her campaign has been able to secure is unusual for the electorate of Cowper.

“The major parties typically direct their advertising to marginal seats; Cowper has been seen as ‘safe’ for so long that many people in our community are not accustomed to the level of political advertising that happens in other parts of the country,” Heise says on her website.

What is Climate 200?

Founded in 2019, Climate 200 describes itself as a “community crowd-funded initiative” with the vision “for every government in Australia to adopt a science-based response to the climate crisis”.

Climate 200 supports political candidates across the country who are committed to this vision. 

According to Climate 200, all funds raised go towards supporting local campaigns. While the group plays a role in fundraising to enable climate-focused candidates to compete, it is not a political party. It does not start campaigns, select candidates, speak for candidates, dictate policies or have members.

According to a recent ABC report, Climate 200 has crowdfunded donations for Independent candidates ranging from $15,000 to through to more than half a million dollars (Zoe Daniel in Goldstein, Victoria).

Where does the National Party get donations?

Major parties are known to receive funding from big corporations. In February, a spokesperson for Conaghan’s office said his donations are “predominately accrued from past election returns” (a per-vote payment funded by the government), direct donations from National Party members in the area and businesses who align with the MP’s policy platforms. 

AEC reporting on political donations shows that in the 2023-24 financial year the National Party and its associated entities accepted donations from the tobacco, fossil fuel, mining and gambling industries. AEC rules do not require a party to disclose how much of this money, if any, is directed to Pat Conaghan’s campaign in Cowper.