NSW senator-elect David Leyonhjelm, who admits he benefited from voters mistaking him for a Liberal Party candidate on the ballot paper, will receive more than $1 million from taxpayers as a result of his hefty primary vote.

His Liberal Democratic Party will pocket the money, despite planning to oppose public funding for political parties. ''We might be new but we're not stupid,'' he told Fairfax Media.

''We would like to change the system for everyone but we're not giving the money back. The Greens and the major parties get tens of millions of dollars and up until now we have been funded completely by members. Every dollar is important to us.''

The Liberal Democrats benefited from snaring the ''donkey position'' as the first name on the left of the tablecloth-size Senate ballot paper on the September 7 poll.

A day after the election, he said: ''Looks like I'm going to be the senator for the donkeys.''

He has so far received 415,891 votes, or 9.5 per cent of the total primary vote in NSW. When a party claims more than 4 per cent of first preference votes in the Senate, they qualify for election funding of $2.48 per vote.

The Liberal Democrats are guaranteed to receive $1.03 million from the Australian Electoral Commission but that figure will rise, with 6 per cent of the vote left to be counted.

The money comes without strings attached. A parliamentary source said: ‘‘He could buy a Ferrari and put a Liberal Democrats sticker on the side and they wouldn’t be breaking the rules.’’

Liberal Party director Brian Loughnane, who lodged a protest against the Liberal Democratic name being registered, recently wrote that Mr Leyonhjelm’s strong showing was ‘‘almost entirely at the expense of the Liberal Party’’.

The $1 million the Liberal Democrats will receive is staggering when compared to other micro-parties. The media-shy Ricky Muir, an incoming Victorian senator, will not receive a cent in election funding. His Motoring Enthusiast Party drew less than 0.5 per cent of the total vote – fewer than 17,000 first preference votes – but got in on preferences.

His victory was made official on Tuesday after he edged out Helen Kroger for the final position in Victoria.

Bob Day, who will represent Family First in South Australia, will get nothing after winning 3.76 per cent of the primary vote. The Palmer United Party is likely to get  $860,000, if it wins Senate positions in Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia.

The ALP and Coalition receive more than $20 million each and the Greens more than  $5 million.

The Liberal Democrats Party supports more rights for gun owners, legalising marijuana and gay marriage and wants all government entities, including the ABC, SBS, Australia Post and Medibank Private, sold. 

The $1M Mistake: Senator's Poll Windfall