Advance Australia's Captain GetUp (Image: Supplied)

When Advance Australia emerged on the scene before the 2019 election, it was something of a joke — yet another desperate attempt to create a “right-wing GetUp”. The gag was best summed up by the group’s biggest contribution to that election campaign: Captain GetUp, a man dressed in a weird orange superhero costume, who frolicked around marginal seats making crude gestures at Zali Steggall.

Since then Advance Australia (which has tried to rebrand as Advance) hasn’t made much of a dent on the political scene. Until this week, when the Australian Electoral Commission’s disclosure data revealed it had received two of the biggest political donations of the 2020-21 financial year.

All up, Advance Australia got $1.3 million — far less than other campaigner groups (GetUp got nearly $12 million) but enough in donations to rival some state party branches. Certainly more cash than One Nation pulled in. 

The source of Advance Australia’s funding is also revealing — largely from big money and posh suburbs. As Crikey reported this week, the second and third biggest donations this cycle went to Advance, and came from companies linked to fund manager Simon Fenwick and Elizabeth Fenwick. ASIC filings link both to a $9.4 million address in Mosman, on Sydney’s lower north shore.

Three further donations, each worth $50,000, came from Sixmiebridge Pty Ltd, Trelowar Pty Ltd and Nedigi Pty Ltd. All companies are linked to Rodney O’Neill, a long-time donor to conservative causes, from old eastern suburbs family money (links to property, construction and concrete), registered to an address in Double Bay. A further $50,000 comes from Willimbury Pty Ltd, registered to his brother Colin O’Neill, at an address in Vaucluse. 

So what does Advance Australia’s silvertail donors want? The group did not respond to requests for comment for this story but in 2020, ahead of his surprise donation, Fenwick, who’d previously given money to a range of philanthropic causes, including to an Indigenous mentoring program at the University of Queensland, told The Australian Financial Review he was concerned about COVID restrictions, and China.

“I’m concerned that Australia’s freedom, prosperity and security is being undermined by left-wing agendas and that a strong counter-voice is needed,” he said, and argued premiers like Victoria’s Dan Andrews had used the pandemic to increase their power.

But it’s unclear whether these donors are getting a good return on their investment. For a second cycle running, Advance spent big — nearly $2 million on political campaigns, almost 20 times as much as GetUp. Much of that went to Facebook marketing, where advertisements falsely claiming Australians were being forced to take COVID vaccines were pulled from the platform.

A glance at Advance’s website shows its campaigns focus, rather vaguely, on boosting defence spending to take on China, telling Labor leader Anthony Albanese to get his “hands off” Australia Day, and a “freedom pledge” which calls on Labor premiers Andrews and Annastacia Palaszczuk to “back off” (both premiers have removed most COVID restrictions).

Advance Australia has also suffered a clear loss of relevance and key staff since its creation in late 2018. Founder Gerard Benedet, who joined after stints with state and federal Liberal ministers, left to join the Pharmacy Guild in 2019.

Since then, the group’s leadership has been somewhat fuzzy. Benedet was replaced as national director by Liz Storer, a former staffer for Liberal Senator Zed Seselja. Storer hasn’t appeared in Advance’s material since 2020, and is not named as affiliated with the group in her Sky News appearances.

The executive director is Matthew Sheahan, in Brisbane. Indigenous right-wing activist Jacinta Price was a spokeswoman, but is now busy contesting the election as a Country Liberal Senate candidate in the Northern Territory.

Meanwhile the anti-vaccine/mandate right has largely been monopolised by Palmer, who’s proved time and again that he can outspend anyone in Australia.

The mining magnate and his United Australia Party didn’t spend at all during the 2020-21 cycle. When the next donations data drop a year from now, and after a federal election where Palmer wants to run candidates in every seat, expect some eye-watering numbers.