The secretive firm behind the no campaign in the voice referendum has claimed almost $135,000 in taxpayer funding, including almost $70,000 from the Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, as part of its work to help conservative politicians sharpen their messaging to voters.
Whitestone Strategic, a political consultancy group that claims to provide “up-to-the-minute technology and campaign clout in the fight for Australian values”, was contracted to the official campaign opposing the Indigenous voice to parliament in 2023.
A Guardian Australia investigation in October revealed its close ties to Advance – a rightwing lobby group founded in 2018 – and social media work during the referendum for Fair Australia.
Fresh documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information show Whitestone’s work has extended beyond the referendum campaign, as it crafts messaging for politicians to share on social media and in emails covering topics such as vaccine mandates and the cost of living.
The strategy firm has invoiced at least $134,750 from elected representatives over two years, including Coalition senators Price, Claire Chandler and Alex Antic, former senator Amanda Stoker and shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie.
Guardian Australia contacted the offices of each politician and Stoker for further details. None of them responded to questions about the services provided or their reasons for using the consultancy firm.
Parliamentarians have an annual budget for office expenses, which can be used for activities such as printing and social media advertising.
Price, who was the face of the no campaign, has been billed at least $68,805 for Whitestone’s services, which included a single invoice from the group for $50,000 in June 2023 as the referendum vote approached.
Chandler submitted 17 invoices to the finance department for Whitestone’s services between January 2022 and June 2023, totalling almost $35,000.
The nature of the work is redacted. Chandler’s office previously told Guardian Australia the work undertaken by Whitestone was not related to the voice referendum.
Whitestone is led by Stephen Doyle, who was previously chief of staff to the former Coalition senator Zed Seselja. Many of the firm’s other staff who were identified by Guardian Australia – both past and present – don’t list the company on their public profiles.
Antic has used Whitestone’s services for social media content, as well as “copywriting and design” related to a “vaccine mandate” campaign. In 2021, the senator voted for a One Nation anti-Covid vaccination mandate bill, contrary to the Coalition government’s own aged care vaccine mandate, and has a freedom pledge opposed to mandatory vaccination on his website. His invoices totalled $27,639, while Stoker submitted one for $3,300 in April 2022.
Hastie submitted one Whitestone invoice for $330 in December 2022. Attached to the invoice is a pamphlet produced for Hastie’s constituents, warning them against Labor’s renewables target and cost-of-living strategies.
“Everywhere you look, Labor refuses to put you first,” the pamphlet’s messaging reads. “You and your family are way down the list.”
A Whitestone spokesperson said it provides services to a range of clients, including not-for-profits and MPs. “As is the case with any professional services consultancy, arrangements with clients are kept strictly commercial-in-confidence,” the spokesperson said.
The documents also show Seselja, who previously represented the ACT, was invoiced $3,284.52 in late 2021 by Dunham+Company, a Texas-based marketing and fundraising company that often works with Christian organisations, and which was at one time tasked with running Advance’s Facebook page.
Seselja and Dunham+Company were approached for comment.
Advance – led by executive director Matthew Sheahan – and Whitestone emerged as powerful operatives during the voice referendum debate, working alongside former Advance spokesperson, Price. The no campaign included a deluge of social media content via multiple Facebook accounts targeting different demographics and sharing seemingly contradictory messages, as well as on TikTok.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, personally thanked the leaders of both Advance and Whitestone on the referendum night for their work during the campaign.
“The no campaign was led by Fair Australia’s Matt Sheahan and Steve Doyle and our volunteers, and I want to thank them sincerely,” Dutton said.
Advance captured headlines again in February after running a series of political attack ads against the Albanese government ahead of this Saturday’s Dunkley byelection.
The firebrand group received $5.2m in donations and other receipts over the 2022-23 financial year, according to Australian Electoral Commission data released in February. The figure marked a significant increase on the $2.5m it received in 2021-22.
Do you know more? Email abogle@protonmail.com or sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com
