Liberal Party’s “Advance” kicks off with outright lies

ANTHONY KLAN

Liberal Party-funded disinformation group “Advance” has kicked off the official election campaign with a host of outright lies, including that an ALP minority government would see utes “banned” and immigration “tripled”.

In an official, politically “authorised”, statement, Advance “spokeswoman” Sandra Bourke has lied and said “your ute” would be “banned” and “your family’s inheritance” would be “taxed away”.

“Your ute? Banned,” writes Bourke.

“Immigration? Tripled.

“That’s just the start of the Greens’ extreme agenda and under a Labor-Greens government, it will become your reality,” she writes.

Advance sent out the email shortly after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this morning calling the federal election for May 3.

Advance operates as the Liberal Party’s disinformation wing, targeting “farmers” and outer suburban voters with outright lies and other extremist messaging, which the Liberal Party doesn’t want mainstream and city voters seeing it is connected to.

“Advance targets ‘farmers’ and outer suburban voters”

The operation falsely claims to be a “grassroots” movement of “ordinary Aussies” but is in fact bankrolled by mega-millionaires — many of them long-time Liberal Party donors — as well as the Liberal Party itself.

Last financial year, the most recent data, the Liberal Party was the biggest funder of “Advance” —  by a factor of ten — funnelling it $500,000 via the Cormack Foundation, the Liberal Party’s main electioneering slush fund.

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Bankrolled by fossil fuels mega-millionaires, Advance falsely claims to be a “grassroots” movement of “ordinary Aussies”. Source: Advance. (Image top: Advance spreads lies ahead of the 2022 federal election. Source: Twitter/X.)

In inner-city and other more highly educated electorates, the Liberal Party is under pressure from voters on climate change — yet Advance aggressively targets regional and outer-suburban voters with fossil fuels propaganda, including lies that offshore wind farms “kill whales”.

“The election has been called, and Australia’s future is on the line,” writes Bourke.

“A Labor-Greens minority government isn’t just possible, it’s the most dangerous outcome.

“Last time, Greens preferences put Albanese in power. This time, they could control him completely”.

“Your ute? Banned” — Sandra Bourke

The disclosed donors to “Advance” in 2022-23 and their vast fortunes. Source: AEC/Various. Graphic: The Klaxon

Advance uses sophisticated disinformation strategies imported directly from the US to “micro-target” voters via social media, using highly emotive and simplistic messaging, much of it heavily laden with demonstrable lies.

The group targets voters in outer suburban and regional electorates, where the Liberal Party needs to gain seats to win power, having last election lost multiple urban and inner-city seats last to community-backed Independents.

“Defend Australian farmers and families!” — Sandra Bourke

A central theme is one of division, with Advance claiming Australia is comprised of an “us” and a “them”.

Advance operates as the Liberal Party’s disinformation arm, running US-style division campaigns which claim Australia is comprised of an “US versus THEM”. Source: Advance

Calling for donations, Bourke says they would help fund “a full suite of powerful ads” and “persuasive social media”.

“Defend Australian farmers and families!” she writes.

Advance conducts behind-the-scenes focus group studies to find the most emotive issues for voters in target electorates, and then manipulates that information to aggressively target voters with its disinformation.

“To reach enough voters, we need you to finish the fight,” writes Bourke.

She says the is what “all the research” and “preparation” has been “leading up to”.

“This is what all the research has been leading up to” — Sandra Bourke

As previously reported, many of the mega-millionaires who bankroll Advance have deep ties to the fossil fuels industry.

Advance is aggressively targeting the Greens and those Independents, including Climate 200 Independents, who are advocating for more action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

“This is the biggest anti-Greens campaign ever” — Sandra Bourke

The Klaxon reports on Advance anti-renewables lies last month. Source: The Klaxon

Advance is running a “GREENS TRUTH campaign” and a “new WEAK, WOKE, SENDING US BROKE anti-Albo campaign” to “hit 33 key electorates across Australia”, she writes. (Emphasis Bourke’s).

Bourke does not state what she means by “woke”.

“The Greens are extreme”, Bourke writes, while spreading extremist lies.

“Hard drugs? Decriminalised,” she writes.

“Fuel and electricity? Sky-high prices and blackouts”.

Bourke provides no evidence, of any kind, to back-up any of her claims.

“Immigration? Tripled” — Sandra Bourke

Despite aggressively spreading lies and disinformation in public to large numbers of Australians, Bourke has repeatedly refused to comment when contacted by The Klaxon.

Advance “spokeswoman” Sandra Bourke. Source: TikTok

Renewable wind and solar energy — “firmed” for when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining, and including transmission costs — are far cheaper than energy from fossil fuels and vastly cheaper than nuclear energy.

Despite this, Opposition leader Peter Dutton –- and Advance — have heavily spruiked “nuclear” power for Australia, despite the fact it would cost consumers vastly more and would not be delivered until 2040 at the very earliest.

According to the latest annual GenCost report by the CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AMEO), energy from large-scale nuclear reactors would cost 1.75 times more than firmed renewables.

Dutton has heavily spruiked so-called “small-modular reactors” (SMR’s), despite them not existing commercially anywhere in the world.

Energy from SMR’s would cost 3.8 times more than firmed renewables, found the seventh annual GenCost report.

The “nuclear” strategy is widely seen as a ploy to delay the shift to renewables, benefiting fossil fuels vested interests.

Nuclear SMR’s would cost almost four times more than firmed solar and wind.. Source: CSIRO/AEMO

Top experts state that Australia building large-scale nuclear energy now, 70 years after the technology was rolled out elsewhere, is highly uneconomical, and will almost certainly never happen.

Many Australians appear to agree, with polling showing substantial opposition to Dutton’s proposal.

The Liberal Party has fallen largely silent on the topic in recent weeks.

Advance ran the “No” campaign against the Indigenous Voice to parliament, which was similarly riddled with disinformation and lies.

Despite Advance running one of the most divisive campaigns in Australian history (and it expressly declaring that Australia is comprised of an “us” and “them”) Advance claimed it was opposed to the Voice on the grounds the proposal was “divisive”.

Internationally, one of the biggest impediments to aggressive fossil fuels expansion has been Indigenous rights.

The biggest funder of “Advance” in the lead up to the October 2023 referendum was notorious climate denier and millionaire mining investor Bryant Macfie, who has publicly declared “the crucifix has been replaced by the wind turbine”.

Bourke writes today: “This is the biggest anti-Greens campaign ever”.

Australia is under threat from bad actors seeking to enrich themselves and their vested interests’ backers at the expense of the public. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Please support our vital work. You can do so by making a RECURRING DONATION HERE or a ONE-OFF DONATION HERE.

Thank you,

Anthony Klan

Editor, The Klaxon