James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

A lot of coal donations went there. It seems fair to say that Populares was incubated at Olvera Advisors as a purpose-built campaign vehicle to assist teal candidates. Populares webpage lists its purported clients, but many are organisations like GetUp for whom Populares principals have worked in former roles. The Smart Energy Council is listed. In the lead-up to the recent election, the Smart Energy Council, which has Simon Holmes a Court as a board member, blatantly flouted charities laws by campaigning against coalition candidates.

Ed Coper needs to answer some questions. He needs to answer questions about his involvement in this astroturfing campaign. We want to know also: Who was the client? Was it GetUp who ran a dishonest hospitals funding campaign against the coalition in 2016? Was it the Labor Party? Was it a union? Was it one of these so-called teal Independents before they decided to become a teal Independent? Was Populares working for this client at the same time as the teals? If it was, as seems likely, how does astroturfing sit with the noble aims of Coper's Center for Impact Communications and its status as a US section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organisation? The US has similar laws to Australia's regarding charities, and I'm going to be writing to the relevant authorities in the United States, bringing the actions of Mr Coper to their attention.

Finally, if it was Mr Coper, the teals should justify their relationship with an astroturfer—particularly the member for Warringah, who seems to be especially sensitive about her relationship with Populares, given her so-called focus on truth in political advertising.

Senate adjourned at 20:39