The ACT Greens received $313,539 in public funding after the 2020 territory election, which is paid to parties at the rate of about $8.62 for every eligible vote.

However the party spent $136,839 on the campaign, amended returns submitted to the ACT Electoral Commission show, resulting in a profit of $176,700.

The Deputy Opposition Leader, Jeremy Hanson, said the party should pay the windfall profit back to the territory. Mr Hanson will move a motion in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday calling on the party to repay the money.

"The ACT Greens have since opened a new campaign office in Braddon, saying they intend to use it for the 2022 federal election. This is not how electoral funding is intended to be used. It is provided to reduce the influence of big donors, not use ACT taxpayer money to fund federal campaigns," Mr Hanson said.

The ACT Greens last month relocated its long-standing party office from Havelock House on Northbourne Avenue in Turner to a building at the corner of Lonsdale and Elouera Streets, Braddon.

A spokesman for the Greens said the party did not profit from the public funding during the campaign and the money was spent on "genuine election costs" not reflected in disclosure requirements.

"During the election campaign we spent more than the income we received from the ACT Electoral Commissioner, however the reporting categories didn't include some of costs such as paying our campaign staff," the spokesman said.

In its report on the 2020 election, the ACT Electoral Commission recommended the Electoral Act be changed to prevent parties from receiving more public funding than they spent on their campaigns.

Independent candidate Fiona Carrick was the only other candidate to post an apparent profit from public funding, receiving $32,613 based on her share of votes. Ms Carrick's campaign spent $13,693.

The Legislative Assembly's justice and community safety committee also recommended the Electoral Act be amended to prevent parties or candidates being able to profit from public funding.

Mr Hanson said the community would expect the ACT Greens to repay the money.

"For all their moralising, the party profiteering off ACT taxpayers are the ACT Greens. I am calling for them to pay the profit back, and for the law to be changed to prevent anyone from profiteering again," he said.

Mr Hanson's motion says the Greens made a profit of $188,771 from public funding, however that figure is based on earlier reported financial returns which have been updated.

The Canberra Times understands Labor and the Greens will use their numbers to amend the motion, removing the call to repay the money and instead calling on the government to consider the recommendations of the Assembly inquiry into the election.

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Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said the motion made it seem like Mr Hanson no longer liked the legislation he strongly supported in 2015 because it no longer suited him, because the Greens' low-cost campaigning was a threat to the Canberra Liberals.

"I was the only member in the Legislative Assembly who voted against the bill to increase public funding fourfold to $8 per vote, as Labor and the Liberals agreed on a bill that served their vested interests," Mr Rattenbury said.

"At that time, the bill lifted the cap on donations and removed the limit on gifts which I strongly opposed.

"Unlike the Canberra Liberals, the ACT Greens are proud to be a party that is committed to enhancing Australia's democratic process and transparent funding arrangements rather than accepting donations from corporations trying to buy influence."

Mr Hanson in February 2015 spoke in favour of the amendments to the Electoral Act in the Legislative Assembly, which increased public funding and removed private donation caps.

"I know that [increased public funding] is controversial, but that does seem to have broad support from those who have observed the process, those who have participated in the committee hearings, to make sure, again, that political parties are not beholden in any way to those people that they need to seek donations from," he said.

Meanwhile, a former Greens member of the Legislative Assembly donated $61,500 to the party, in a large boost for its federal election campaign.

Caroline Le Couteur, who retired from the ACT Legislative Assembly at the 2020 election, made three donations and told The Canberra Times she was "putting my money where my mouth is".

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