Third-party groups are preparing federal election campaigns that include accusations that the Greens and teal independents threaten “Australia’s economic and social stability”, and also focus in part on their views on the Israel-Gaza war.
One initiative, Better Australia, points to “proven results” reducing Greens support during the New South Wales local and Queensland state elections in 2024 in campaigns that focused on the party’s stance on Israel.
A two-page flyer for Better Australia seen by Guardian Australia says its objectives for the federal election include ending “Green and Teal growth”.
Sophie Calland, a spokesperson for Better Australia, said: “Better Australia is an independent grassroots initiative formed in response to widespread concerns from Australians of all walks of life.
“Better Australia is led by a broad coalition of Australians who believe that political representation should be based on integrity and action, not extremist or elite activism.”
Calland said the document was an outdated draft but did not share the group’s more recent material.
The intended audience for the document is unclear and Calland did not respond to questions about how widely it had been circulated. It states that Better Australia is “fully compliant with electoral regulations”.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said the draft flyer appeared to contain political campaign material which requires an authorisation, and could leave the impression Better Australia was currently registered as a disclosure entity with the AEC.
Calland said the organisation had applied to be registered with the AEC, and all current documentation was properly authorised. Guardian Australia understands the registration process has now begun.
According to the draft document, Better Australia claims to have an “authentic and diverse community ‘ground force’ to create a social movement (Christians, Hindus, Iranians and others)” and that it is “unconstrained by party type messaging”.
“Phase A” of Better Australia’s project will include research, content creation and volunteer coordination, the document says, while “Phase B” will include influencer media and polling as well as signage, T-shirts and flags.
“We are not seen as ‘far right’ and won’t be dismissed by swinging progressive voters,” it states.
Calland was also a spokesperson for the Better Council campaign in September 2024, which targeted the Greens with letterboxing and corflute campaigns in inner Sydney during council elections.
Its website accused some Greens councillors of “focusing too much on international issues rather than on what matters to local residents”.
The Better Australia draft flyer includes images of Better Council’s recent anti-Greens campaign as well as of an anti-Greens campaign in key Brisbane seats at last year’s state election over the party’s stance on Israel and other issues.
That campaign was run by the Queensland Jewish Collective (QJC), but its co-director, Hava Mendelle, said QJC was not involved with Better Australia.
Mendelle is also a co-director of Minority Impact Coalition (MIC), which registered as a company on 12 February, according to business records.
MIC has authorised billboard trucks in Melbourne with the words “get Labor Greens out”, according to photos shared with Guardian Australia.
It claims to have also put trucks targeting Labor on the streets in NSW and Queensland.
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MIC’s website accuses Labor of preferencing the Greens despite saying they “will not stand for the Greens’ radicalism and divisiveness”, of not doing enough on antisemitism, and of failing to support Hindu and Iranian Australians.
It says the Coalition is “powered by” Queensland Jewish Collective, which is hosting a federal election strategy event to connect volunteers with the rightwing lobby group Advance on Friday.
Mendelle said MIC had no connection to Advance or the volunteer event.
“MIC is an organisation to amplify voices of Australian minorities against extremism,” she said. “I suspect we are seeing a rise in similar groups because there is a prominent, widespread societal trend you should be looking into – antisemitism.”
Calland said Better Australia was not affiliated with Advance or any other organisation, and its focus was ensuring “fair and effective representation” in federal politics.
The executive director of Advance, Matthew Sheahan, has said targeting the Greens is a key election plank.
In a Zoom meeting last July organised by the Australian Jewish Association, Sheahan outlined Advance’s goal to reduce the Greens’ vote by 2% in the House of Representatives and 4% in the Senate.
“[Voters] think it’s the party of Bob Brown,” he said of the Greens, accusing the party’s policies of being “toxic [and] anti-capitalist, anti-Judeo-Christian West culturally.
During the recent Prahran byelection in Victoria, the Jewish group J-United said it was backed by Advance as part of its “Put the Greens Last” campaign. A representative of the group declined to comment.
Sheahan said in the Zoom meeting the teals and “the left wing of the Labor party” would also be a target of Advance’s campaign.
The lobby group received more than $15.6m in donations in the 2023-24 financial year, including $500,000 from the Liberal party investment group the Cormack Foundation.
Advance did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
