Independent MP Sophie Scamps has labelled a coal-backed campaign group a “textbook example of Liberal astroturfing”.
Independent MP Sophie Scamps has accused a coal lobby-backed campaign group of misleading voters and acting as a front for Liberal Party interests.
Scamps was responding to analysis of the Australian Electoral Commission transparency register, which shows campaign group Australians for Prosperity was almost entirely funded by Coal Australia.
Australians for Prosperity ran attack advertising against Labor, the Greens and teal independent candidates during the last federal election.
The group has links to former Liberal MPs Jason Falinski and Julian Simmonds.
Scamps said the group falsely presented itself as a grassroots movement, despite emerging suddenly before the election with a focus on targeting climate-focused independents.
She said voters deserved honesty and accused the Liberal Party of relying on misleading tactics instead of policy development.
