Advance's AI-generated election ad angers Victorian Coalition MPs

Advance, an Australian conservative lobby group, was set to begin a campaign on 19 October 2026 in 20 suburban and regional Labor-held seats ahead of Victoria's state election in November. Its centrepiece is a video generated with artificial intelligence. Several MPs from the Coalition of the Liberal and National parties say the effort works against their own pitch to voters.

The 60-second ad depicts premier Ben Carroll alongside his predecessors Jacinta Allan and Daniel Andrews, using their AI-rendered likenesses to stage an election-night Labor celebration that never happened. Its message is that voters should rank Labor last, regardless of whom they choose first.

A dry run for the federal contest

In an email to members, Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan asked for donations to fund the Victorian push, which is expected to cost about $350,000. The money would place the ads in front of voters in the target seats via social media, streaming services, mobile billboards and print. Sheahan framed the state race as a chance to test the anti-Labor campaign before using it against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the federal election, due in 2028.

Coalition candidates have spent months arguing that voting for them is the only way to remove Labor, and MPs say Advance is now telling voters something different. "It's bizarre and it's not helpful at all," one Coalition MP said. A Liberal MP accused the group of caring more about the federal campaign than about the disruption it might cause in Victoria.

Several of the targeted seats are also being contested by One Nation, including ultra-marginal Pakenham, where One Nation Victoria leader Warren Pickering is standing, as well as Bass, Hastings, Melton and Yan Yean. Liberal sources fear the campaign could boost One Nation in seats central to their path to majority government.

Advance hits back

An Advance spokesperson dismissed the criticism, saying the MPs misunderstood both their electoral position and the group's strategy. The spokesperson claimed public and private polling showed 25-35% of Coalition and One Nation voters would preference Labor ahead of each other, and that neither party could win a majority alone. Electoral analyst Ben Raue said the messaging was unhelpful to the Coalition but unsurprising. A Coalition spokesperson repeated that changing government requires a first preference for the Liberal and National parties.

The row highlights how synthetic media portraying real politicians is moving into mainstream campaigning, raising fresh questions about how voters distinguish fabricated scenes from genuine events.