Marcus May, our regular correspondent, continues his series on the organisations and people who are trying to cripple or destroy the ABC and need to be constantly monitored.

In our first article examining the enemies of Australian public broadcasting, we looked at the tentacles of the Atlas Network, an organisation that aims to promote free markets and limited government worldwide via more than 500 “free market” organisations in nearly 100 countries. 

The Atlas network’s central objective is to move/change public opinion so that it aligns with the Network’s opinion – that private enterprise must be unencumbered in pursuit of its profits by any annoying hurdles, like public health, the environment or social responsibilities, or by non-partisan (can’t be bought) public broadcasting. 

In Australia, one of those 500 organisations is the conservative lobby group Advance, formerly known as Advance Australia, so let’s take a look at who, what and why drives Advance. 

The group is a self-proclaimed right-wing answer to progressive campaign group Get Up. 

Formed in 2018 in the wake of the marriage equality reform, Advance Australia was tasked with mobilising a hitherto disparate conservative citizenry whose adherents blame “wokeism” for everything from the declining authority of the Christian church to gender fluidity, environmentalism, and the Voice to Parliament. 

Advance’s website says it is “your voice front and centre in the fight for mainstream Australian values”: The three values most lauded are Freedom, Security, and Prosperity, as “mainstream values”. In pursuing the “freedom to be Australian” Advance is clearly divorcing itself from ‘woke ideologies’ and ‘élites.  

Mark Kenny in The Conversation noted,

“For all its Australiana atmospherics, Advance’s language, methods, and even its pre-occupations seem more at home in the heated grievance invective of Trumpist America than the more temperate vernacular of Australian political exchange. 

This may be the influence of a US-headquartered public relations firm, RJ Dunham & Co, which has had wide experience advising right-wing faith groups and movements in America.”

So again, we see the international connections at play. 

“It is one of two PR firms advising Advance”, he says “– the other being Whitestone Strategic, whose website declares itself ‘Australia’s conservative campaign consultancy […] Equipping candidates and organisations with the experience, up-to-the-minute technology and campaign clout in the fight for ‘Australian values’. 

Prime targets for Advance’s contempt are what it sees as elite-captured media (except for News Corp), with a particular emphasis on the ABC.” 

In Advance’s own words in 2023; 

 ‘We’ve spent the last three years pushing back against radical ideology, holding powerful elites to account and putting your voice front and centre [..] we stopped Daniel Andrews’ power grab, took on the ABC and stood up to the climate commies and their attempts to turn our children against us.’ 

So, who is behind Advance? 

In a statement, Advance said: "Advance is not affiliated to any political party and will work with any politician who shares our goals of advancing Australia's freedom, security and prosperity."  

It says it has opposed the Liberal Party on policies, including the net zero carbon pledge and ABC funding.  

However: 

  • Although it’s difficult to definitively know who runs Advance, the Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2024 that Advance’s leadership was ‘mostly composed of former Liberal Party operatives’. 
  • Advance Australia first gained national attention in the 2019 federal election as a campaigner against Tony Abbott's challenger in the seat of Warringah, independent Zali Steggall.  
  • Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a former Country Liberal senator and prominent opponent of a Voice to Parliament, worked as Advance Australia's spokesperson before entering parliament.  
  • Advance was extremely active in the NO argument of the ‘Voice’ campaign, successfully supporting the Liberal Party position under the ‘Fair Australia’ banner and congratulated personally by Peter Dutton when the referendum failed. 
  • Advance received about $15 million in donations this year, about half of which can be called ‘Dark Money’ (unidentified donors) but including half a million from the Cormack Foundation Pty Ltd, the Liberal Party’s endowment fund, and much more from other businessmen closely associated with the Liberal Party. 
  • Major Advance donor Simon Fenwick, a Sydney businessman, was previously a significant donor to the Liberal Party, contributing $280,000 in 2018-2019. Mr Fenwick serves as a director of the Institute of Public Affairs [IPA], a libertarian think tank. 
  • Tony Abbott's role as an adviser to Advance Australia has been confirmed by other members of the advisory council. 
  • And Michael West media reported ‘The recent gathering at Tony Abbott’s office, attended by notable figures like Maurice Newman, Warren Mundine, and Peter Dutton, highlights the close ties between the Liberal Party’s right wing and Advance Australia.’ 

 

So, it seems clear that Advance, as an affiliate of the Atlas Network, is very closely aligned with the right-wing of the Liberal Party and those ‘Libertarian’ values of small government, unencumbered business and, significantly for our ABC, anti-public broadcasting activity. 

Well-funded by Liberal Party connections and businessmen, there is no doubt that Advance will continue, even more passionately perhaps in the aftermath of the 2025 election result, to be a significant enemy of the ABC.

Read part 1 here