Scott Ludlam's slick TV ad campaign for the re-run West Australian Senate election is getting noticed, almost as much as his now famously blunt speech in parliament, which drew $100,000 in donations.
Even Clive Palmer praised the advertisements, saying they sounded at first "like a PUP ad", urging voters not to vote for Labor or the Liberals.
Conversely, Senator Ludlam said he found Palmer United Party's campaign "exceptionally annoying" and joined the chorus of politicians howling about the wealthy MP's multi-million dollar advertising blitz.
Despite the Greens being the second biggest spenders at the re-run election - after receiving the single largest personal donation in Australia's electoral history in 2011 - leader Christine Milne said the party wanted to see cash splashed on campaign ads limited.
"We would like to cap expenditure so that we don't have this buying of votes, the democracy for sale that's gone on in this election," she told reporters in Perth on Wednesday.
"This is the first time in Australian politics where we've had a rich individual being able to so manifestly influence the vote."
Senator Ludlam said his party's ad spending was different to PUP's because the funds came from a large amount of small donations.
"Thousands of people making small donations, ordinary West Australians right across traditional divides - not just traditional Greens voters - making a lot of small donations," he said.
His recent speech in parliament - in which he told the prime minister to take his "heartless, racist exploitation of people's fears and ram it as far from Western Australia as your taxpayer-funded travel entitlements can take you" - was an internet hit worldwide.
And while it drew $100,000 in donations, "it's really different to a coal billionaire writing out cheques for millions of dollars", Senator Ludlam said.
Deputy leader of the opposition, Tanya Plibersek, was less affronted.
It was obvious PUP was out-spending other parties, but that was their decision, she said.
"Of course it puts us at a disadvantage - they're out-spending us by a fortune - but that's democracy," she said.
"As long as a political party declares all its donations, as long as it abides by the rules, they've got every right to spend the money they raise."
But Prime Minister Tony Abbott took the same line as the Greens, saying Mr Palmer was trying to buy seats in parliament in a bid to further his own interests.
If PUP can win a WA Senate seat on Saturday, it will have three members on the upper house crossbench after July 1.
It has been estimated by monitoring agency Ebiquity that PUP spent 11 times more on advertising than Labor and 14 times more than the Liberals in March.
Mr Palmer said it was his personal money to do with what he wished.
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