Shortly before the election, prominent developer Brian Ray revealed he was the "kingmaker" who − along with several other prominent business figures − had contributed funding to a trust fund available to certain candidates, including Roxanne Scott, Brian Rowe, Greg Betts and Grant Pforr (the latter two were successful).[2]
On the day before the election, nightclub operators spent more than $16,000 to send SMS messages to more than 75,000 people in a campaign against Gary Baildon because of a decision to reduce nightclub opening hours.[2]