An ABC investigation has discovered the Coalition's internal pollster is working on a pro-gas campaign that's been described as textbook astroturfing. Emails show staff from the research and public relations firm freshwater strategy have been trying to drum-up public support for a group called Australians for Natural Gas ahead of the election.
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TVTranscript
00:00AstroTurfing is a public relations strategy where basically vested interests, powerful
00:08or wealthy groups or individuals, set up basically an artificial grassroots campaign to try to
00:14shift public sentiment about a particular topic or issue.
00:19We've discovered that a group called Australians for Natural Gas, which describes itself as
00:24a group representing households and small business and industry, was set up by the CEO
00:30of Tamborin Resources, which is a gas company that's operating in the Northern Territory
00:35that's building gas fields in the Beteloo Basin.
00:39And so this is being described as a textbook case of AstroTurfing.
00:45And we spoke to QUT Professor Daniel Angus, who says this really fits the bill of what
00:51he sees as AstroTurfing.
00:54It's trying to trick and deceive people into believing that there is more support for fossil
01:00fuel than there actually is.
01:02Those kinds of industries are more than able to participate in a debate in this country.
01:08They have a huge platform through which they can advertise and they can promote their views.
01:13So Freshwater Strategy has been hired by Australians for Natural Gas to roll out this campaign.
01:19We've seen emails of Freshwater Strategy directors contacting figures in the business
01:24community to try to get them involved.
01:27Now Freshwater Strategy is also the internal pollster for the Coalition during this election.
01:33It has a role doing opinion polls and doing voter research as well.
01:39So we've spoken to integrity experts who have said that it's incumbent on the Coalition
01:44to declare if there's been any staff who are working on both this Australians for Natural
01:49Gas campaign and the election campaign to clear up whether the Liberal Party has had
01:55anything to do with this campaign.
01:58Tambourine Resources, they haven't responded to our questions, but Australians for Natural
02:03Gas, it says that it's not a lobbying group, it's non-partisan, it's really just trying
02:08to raise awareness.