Lobby group made a mark during voice vote and is outspending the Liberals in byelection. Will its tactics work again?
Advance’s rolling billboards – which it calls ‘truth trucks’ – have been circling the Victorian electorate of Dunkley, urging voters to ‘put Labor last’.Advance’s rolling billboards – which it calls ‘truth trucks’ – have been circling the Victorian electorate of Dunkley, urging voters to ‘put Labor last’.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup In the 30 days to 22 February, Advance’s main page and Election News combined spent about $25,000 boosting its Dunkley-related posts. Ads boosted by Conroy and the Victorian Liberal party came to only $20,600.
Asked about the ad on 3AW, Albanese defended his government’s response. “I think people will have a look at that ad, which is designed to frighten and scare people, and see it for what it is,” he said. “It’s unfortunate because I don’t want to see Australia go down the American road, where there’s so much polarisation.”
In a 14 February email, Sheahan spruiked a “brutal shock and awe political campaign in Dunkley”. He said Advance was seeking $275,000 in donations to finance social media advertising, “rolling truth trucks out on to every major road in Dunkley”, and “hammering letterboxes with eye-catching leaflets”.
Labor’s vice-president, Mich-Elle Myers, sent a similar fundraising email, claiming Advance was “trying to buy Dunkley for Peter Dutton”. “They’re not going to stop until they’ve bought the seat of Dunkley for the Liberals,” he claimed, requesting cash to “fight Advance”.Advance has operated in several election campaigns, to little success, since launching in 2019 with plans to be the “rightwing GetUp”.