Right-wing Advance and our elections
The right-wing lobby group Advance played a not insignificant role against the Voice, and it mounted a concerted campaign to defeat the sitting Greens candidate in Prahran’s recent by-election in Victoria. Advance is partly funded by a Liberal Party investment group which donated $500,000 in the last financial year.
It was disturbing to read that the Victorian Electoral Commission felt obliged to seek a Supreme Court injunction against Advance for repeatedly defying election campaign rules. Disturbing not because of the actions of the VEC, but the response from Advance, who accused the VEC of “heavy-handed overreaction to Australians participating in an election” and of a “politically motivated attack”.
Disturbing because, undeterred by requests from the VEC to abide by the rules (it is not a political party), it continued its anti-Greens campaign, thereby helping the Liberal candidate to victory. There appear to be no real-time consequences for such actions. One hopes that the Australian Electoral Commission will be prepared to take immediate action during the coming Federal Election, so that infringements cannot continue while voters are at the polling booth.
(Advance quotes are from The Age, 8/2)
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