Advance, stylised as ADVANCE and formerly known as Advance Australia, is a conservative political lobbying group launched in 2018 to counter the progressive lobbying group GetUp.[3][4]
Advance's leadership is ‘mostly composed of former Liberal Party operatives.’[5] The national director of Advance Australia was Gerard Benedet, a former Liberal Party staffer who led the organisation during the 2019 Australian federal election.[6] Benedet stood down in September 2019, and was replaced by Liz Storer, former City of Gosnells councillor,[7][8] and advisor to ex-Liberal senator Zed Seselja.[9] Former Primer Minister Tony Abbott has provided strategic advice to the organisation.[10]
High-profile backers have included businessmen such as Maurice Newman, Kennards Self Storage managing director Sam Kennard, and Australian Jewish Association president David Adler.[4][6] Other members of the advisory council have included security specialist Sean Jacobs and journalist Kerry Wakefield.[11] Queensland businessman James Power is also said to have been involved.[12]
In its first four months, Advance Australia raised $395,000 and signed up 27,500 members.[6] By May 2019, it had raised $1.7 million, according to Benedet.[13] It raises money through donations on its website.[14] Benedet says the membership is 60 per cent male and has an average age of about 50.[1]
Advance Australia has been accused of astroturfing and being little more than a front for the Liberal Party.[15] Advance Australia's independence has yet to be tested by the electoral commission in the same manner as similar lobby groups have.[16]
As of May 2023[update] the group had been renamed simply "Advance".[3]
In 2022–2023 Advance raised $5.2 million in donations according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). This was more than $2.5 million it got in 2021–2022.[17]
Policies
The group says it opposes left-wing activists who it says are trying to change the Australian way of life. It decries radicalism and political correctness, and says, "Mainstream values have been the bedrock of Australia's growth as a western liberal democracy".[18] It promotes family values, free markets, meritocracy, business, a Judeo-Christian heritage, a strong defence force and national borders.[19][20][21][22][23][24] The group believes that anthropogenic climate change is a "hoax",[9] with current national director Liz Storer describing the teaching of the predominant scientific view as "the other side of the story being shoved down their throats. It's already happening. The left have infiltrated our education systems. Any aware parent knows that their child is being taught the left's ideology."[9]
Campaigns
Climate campaigns
Advance Australia's national director Liz Storer vowed upon her appointment in September 2019 to target the "militant advance of climate activism" and in particular, the protest group Extinction Rebellion, whom she described as "criminals who pose a menace to society".[25]
In 2020, Advance Australia commenced a campaign aimed at children with an e-book titled "10 climate facts to expose the climate change hoax". They claim that a "consensus" goes against the "scientific method" and that there are many recognised scientists who do not agree that human generation of CO 2 is the "control knob" of climate. The group are seeking to have their material distributed in classrooms. However the New South Wales Department of Education has stated it would not allow Advance Australia's in schools as they are not objective and would be in violation of the Controversial Issues in Schools policy. The Victorian Education Minister James Merlino has described the book as "rubbish", adding "this organisation is a front for a group of ill-informed climate change deniers".[9]
In 2024, Advance, along with the Liberal Party, ran a campaign against the Albanese government's policy to introduce fuel efficiency standards for vehicles. The group claimed, wrongly, that this policy was a tax,[26] and published an advertisement featuring a picture of National Farmers Federation President David Jochinke without his permission, with the farmers lobby saying it had “significant policy differences” to Advance on “important issues including climate change” and that it was “committed” to “helping Australia” achieve net zero.[27] The government's plan was a response to that Australian passenger vehicles are emitting 50% more carbon dioxide (CO₂) than the average of the world's major markets[28] and claims that the policy would see vehicles such as the Toyota Hilux increase in price were fact checked and found to be ‘wrong.’[26]
Online petitions
The earliest campaigns of Advance Australia were online petitions to:
costumed characters named Captain GetUp and Freddie Foreign Money appeared in electorates where GetUp was trying to unseat Liberals who had been key supporters of a leadership challenge by Peter Dutton[33][34]
a documentary-style series was launched on social media attacking GetUp.[35]
Advance has set up campaigns to oppose the Voice to Parliament,[41] encouraging voters to vote No in the 2023 referendum on the matter. Its campaigns include a new social media advertising campaign titled "The Voice is Not Enough" (or just "Not Enough"),[42] aimed at a young demographic and targeting the "progressive no" vote, suggesting that the Voice would be too weak, or is not the main priority for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. As part of this campaign, they have misrepresented the views of some Indigenous people and used others' photos without their permission.[43] It has also created a "Referendum News" Facebook page,[44] which shows only anti-Voice posts, and by May 2023 the group had spent thousands of dollars on Facebook and Instagram ads.[3]
Advance spent nearly $300,000 running advertising against Labor in the 2024 by-election for the federal seat of Dunkley in southeastern Melbourne, triggered by the death of sitting Labor MP Peta Murphy. Its campaign was described variously as ‘Trumpian’, ‘misinformation’ and a ‘fear campaign.’[5][48] Despite Advance's efforts, Labor held the seat.
Reception
The group has been criticised, primarily by progressive groups, for distributing misinformation[49] and for purportedly campaigning for the Liberal Party, to which Advance has close links.[50] it has been criticised for not revealing where much of its funding comes from[51] and for criticising ‘elites’, while receiving significant funding from the rich and powerful.[52][53]
^Koslowski, Max (13 March 2019). "Advance Australia, the conservative GetUp!, comes to Tony Abbott's rescue". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Publishing. Retrieved 7 May 2019. ... It will focus on the seats of Dickson, Deakin, Boothby and Warringah, held respectively by Peter Dutton, Michael Sukkar, Nicolle Flint and Mr Abbott ... Advance Australia will also campaign in Indi, the regional Victorian seat which is wide open following independent Cathy McGowan's decision to retire.
