A screenshot from Advance\u2019s AI-generated campaign video, which fabricates a Labor celebration on election night. Computer-generated: screenshot<\/p>\n
But several Coalition MPs have told Guardian Australia they have concerns that Advance is undermining a key conservative election message. Coalition candidates have spent months telling voters the \u201conly way\u201d to defeat Labor is to vote for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re essentially telling voters the opposite of what we have been telling them for months now,\u201d said one Coalition MP. \u201cIt\u2019s bizarre and it\u2019s not helpful at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an email to members last week, Advance\u2019s executive director, Matthew Sheahan, sought donations to finance the lobby group\u2019s Victorian campaign, which is expected to cost about $350,000.<\/p>\n
This money would push Advance\u2019s ads to voters in the 20 target seats on social media, streaming services, mobile billboards and print.<\/p>\n
\u201cLabor is behind, the vote is split, and they\u2019re counting on the numbers further down the ballot to carry them back in,\u201d Sheahan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gives you a rare chance: to trial the campaign against Labor at a state election, before it\u2019s run against Albanese.\u201d<\/p>\n
This led one Liberal MP to accuse Advance of being \u201cclearly more concerned about the federal campaign\u201d, which is not due until 2028. They said Advance \u201cdon\u2019t care if they cause chaos in ours\u201d.<\/p>\n
Several of the 20 seats selected by Advance are being targeted by One Nation<\/a>, including the ultra marginal seat of Pakenham, which is being contested by One Nation Victoria\u2019s leader, Warren Pickering, as well as Bass, Hastings, Melton and Yan Yean. These seats are also crucial to a Liberal path to majority government.<\/p>\n Another Liberal source said Advance were \u201cnot our friends\u201d. Another said the group\u2019s campaign clearly showed it was pursuing its own agenda.<\/p>\n
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