Dark Money. Hard-right Advance targets Greens, Teals with $14m warchest
Hard-right lobby group Advance Australia has amassed a $14m warchest to target Greens and Teals at the Federal Election. Michael West reports.
The latest political donations data released by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) reveal that right-wing lobby group Advance Australia has tripled its receipts since 22/23, now holding over $15 million for the 23/24 period.
Advance Australia lobbies against renewable energy and for Israel. It has been outed for ‘astroturfing’, running fake grassroots campaigns.
Only $1.1 million of this amount has disclosed donor details, leaving a substantial $14 million in “dark money” — that is, funds from anonymous sources.
The largest disclosed donor is the Cormack Foundation Pty Ltd, the Liberal Party’s endowment fund, contributing $500,000. Additionally, Roger Gillespie, the founder of Baker’s Delight, and his wife Leslie, each donated $50,000. Gillespie has a history of donating to both Advance and the Liberal Party.
The recent gathering at Tony Abbott’s office, attended by notable figures like Maurice Newman, Warren Mundine, and Peter Dutton, highlights the close ties between the Liberal Party’s right wing and Advance Australia.
Abbott, Mundine, Adler
Many of these individuals play key roles within Advance: Maurice Newman as an early driver, Tony Abbott as an advisor, Warren Mundine as a spokesperson, and David Adler, of the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), as a founding board member and advisor.
Advance Australia is actively involved in the Victorian by-election for the seat of Prahran, campaigning to put the Greens last.
Leaked Advance group chat in Prahran by-election campaign
While supporting the Liberal candidate, they are also collaborating with former Labor MP Tony Lupton, who has since denounced Labor and accused it of being weak on anti-semitism.
Lupton’s wife, Julie Szego, has written about anti-semitism, and her views have been promoted by the Israel lobby. This collaboration between Lupton and Advance could be the first instance of a senior Labor figure associating with the pro-Netanyahu lobby.
Advance targets Greens and Teals
Advance’s current activities are seen as preparation for the upcoming federal election, where their primary targets are the Greens and Teal independents.
In the event of a Dutton minority government, Advance aims to have One Nation, Libertarians, and compliant independents on the cross-bench, potentially giving them significant influence in the political landscape.
Overall, Advance Australia’s big rise in funding, coupled with its close ties to the Liberal Party’s right wing and its active involvement in elections, raises concerns about the influence of “dark money” and the organisation’s role in shaping Australian politics.
The lack of transparency surrounding a large portion of their funding and their strategic targeting of specific political parties and candidates highlight the potential impact of Advance Australia on the future of Australian democracy. And the question of foreign interference is likely to arise as per the “anti-Israel” platform revealed in the group chat above.
And Labor
Due to the opacity of the AEC data and the complex structures of donor orgs, it takes time to search for the identity of donors, for all parties. Therefore this story has focused on Advance.
On the Labor side, things are equally opaque. We did pick up however that Abelshore, a company owned by coal giant Glencore, donated another $6.8m to the Mining and Energy Union (formerly CFMEU).
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.
