Libs first fully AI-generated ad
Peter Dutton’s campaign might have got off to a slow start, with a backflip or two, but the Liberal party is claiming an Australian election first: a fully AI-generated ad.
The ad, which hit social media this week, focuses on Dutton’s pledge to halve the fuel excise and save motorists 25 cents a litre. We’ve brought you news of six-toed ads created by AI before in this column, but Liberal sources told us they believed the fuel ad was the first Australian election ad to be totally created with AI. We’re told it was made with a mix of AI tools, including Midjourney, Sora and Runway.
The Liberal campaign headquarters has the creative agency and digital strategists Topham Guerin in-house. As we’ve reported before, Topham Guerin has boasted about leading the digital advertising for the LNP in its recent win in Queensland. The group claimed its AI team created 744 unique creative assets, including 465 video ads, in the Queensland state election.
(In) action figures
Elsewhere in AI land, the campaigns are just outright trolling each other at this stage. Witness Labor getting in on the trend of people making action figures of themselves, producing an Albanese doll – complete with a Medicare card, Toto the dog and Rabbitohs jersey (and is that a banh mi?):
Barely a day later, the Liberals made their own Albanese “inaction” figure, with a “vote yes” sticker from the unsuccessful voice referendum, lightbulb and “3 year lie guarantee”.
Now the obvious question is … what accessories would a Peter Dutton action figure come with? Taking suggestions.
Advance boosting ad spend
This column reported some weeks ago that the right-wing activists Advance were poised to burst on to the election stage after holding fire for much of the pre-campaign period.
Well, the beast has certainly woken up if the more than $191,000 spent pushing social media ads in the past week alone is any measure.
Just as it did during the Voice to Parliament referendum, Advance is running several Facebook accounts under different names and branding – a tactic the left-wing Climate 200 also adopted in 2025.
For example, Advance is behind Election News, a page almost exclusively dedicated to old media stories about cultural problems inside the Greens.
Advance also operates a separate page named after its new anti-Anthony Albanese slogan: “Albanese is Weak, Woke and Sending us Broke.”
The page promotes ads featuring senior Labor ministers Chris Bowen, Jim Chalmers, Ed Husic and Michelle Rowland, which are then targeted to users in the MPs’ home states.
Curiously, the anti-Labor page is also going after Alex Dyson – the Climate 200-backed former Triple J presenter who is trying to defeat Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan in the seat of Wannon in regional Victoria.
An ad with images of Dyson (an independent teal) in various poses alongside the words “weak, woke, really weird” does not mention that he is not running for Labor.
In fact, the caption sitting above the ad reads: “For three years the Labor Party put you last. It’s time for you to put Labor last.”
Speaking of Dyson, his critics are starting to dredge up some of the former youth broadcaster’s more racy or low-brow jokes and stunts in an attempt to tar him as unfit for office.
But not Triple J, which is fondly looking back at the “pack ‘er up boys” catchphrase from Dyson’s co-hosting days with comedian Matt Okine.
In an Instagram video posted by the Js this week, Dyson calls the catchphrase “my legacy”.
Monash rap ad
We’ve seen plenty of politicians turn to social media, filming quirky videos to sing for their supper, but the community independent Deb Leonard seems to have gone one better: rapping for votes.
“MC Deb Leonard” is in a three-way contest for the seat of Monash with the Liberal-turned-independent Russell Broadbent and the current Liberal candidate, Mary Aldred.
Broadbent claimed the seat in 2022 with a 2.9% margin.
In a video posted to Instagram this week, Leonard writes: “Try to connect with younger voters they said”. With some Auto-Tuned rapping about her campaign, filmed in her kitchen, it’s certainly a bit cringeworthy – but you’ve got to give her some credit for trying to connect to the young folk.
She says it herself:
“Yeah, I know it’s kind of mid to hear this white woman rap, but you know what’s even worse? Putting up with Canberra’s crap.”
The caption on the video reads: “There is a full version of this video, should I post it?” We’re not sure if we need any more of this, thanks MC Deb.
Duelling in Dickson
“Your $5 could end Dutton’s career”, Labor is screaming in campaign emails to supporters this week. Albanese started his campaign last weekend in Dickson, and even though he reminded journos that Dutton’s was the most marginal in Queensland (on 1.7%), many thought it was just a troll or a head-fake to throw his opponent off course.
But Labor are putting some real resources there. The likes of senior ministers Jason Clare, Murray Watt, Katy Gallagher and Catherine King have visited in recent days to boost candidate Ali France. Labor, of course, would say this in fundraising emails – but a recent missive to supporters read: “According to new campaign research, Peter Dutton’s seat of Dickson is much closer than anyone thought. Seriously – this momentum is something Peter Dutton cannot ignore.”
There’s also an independent candidate in Dickson, Climate 200-backed Ellie Smith, running a big and noisy campaign with big volunteer numbers.
Dutton has often faced significant election challenges and hung on with tight margins, so he’s been in this position before. But Dickson – one to watch.
Casting a shadow (campaign)
The last few campaigns have been replete with very big units (think Dan Repacholi and the almost-as-tall Jerome Laxale), and Labor seems to be sticking with this formula up in the tropics. With the battle intensifying over the marginal far north Queensland seat of Leichhardt, Labor is no doubt thankful they have a candidate that stands out.
Matt Smith, a former professional basketball player stands 210cm tall (that’s 6’10”!), and was seen towering over Albo in front of cameras on the Great Barrier Reef on Thursday. There’s probably a joke about our “shadow campaign” column and the shadow he casts, but we won’t make it.
However, keen observers of Smith’s stature might be wondering if the man running to represent the far north has himself gone troppo.
While that 210cm height claim is according to listings from his days as a basket baller – whose heights are measured with their shoes on – Smith purports to be 7ft tall on his Instagram account. Go figure.
