A man clad in a balaclava and brandishing a machete terrorises a worker at a petrol station before firebombing the building on the way out.
A woman gives birth on the side of the road, unable to reach a hospital due to ambulance ramping and crater-like potholes, which also stop a fire truck in its tracks.
A flood of water – emblematic of Victoria’s “tsunami of debt”, forecast to hit $۱۹۹bn in the next four years – gushes from the steps of state parliament, towards a scared child.
These are some of the AI-generated images being used as part of a social media advertising campaign attracting thousands of views less than ۱۰۰ days out from the Victorian election.
According to one expert, the ads, created by a group called Fix Victoria, cost up to $۱۰۰,۰۰۰ to publish in August, which is significantly more than most major parties and candidates spent.
Another group, Better Victoria, is also spending big on short ads to pit Labor initiatives – such as the multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop – against investment in roads, schools and hospitals.
But who is behind these groups and are they affiliated with a political party?
‘Issues-driven, not politics-driven’
Fix Victoria is run by experienced political operatives who held senior positions at a conservative thinktank, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). It began plotting its ad campaign in May, when a group of like-minded people started recruiting paying members who could finance its operations and ads.
Corporate filings show it was registered with Asic in early August by Deborah Henderson, who was until June the deputy executive director of the IPA. Its communications director is Andrew Hudgson, who held a similar role at the IPA until earlier this year. Its head of advocacy is Gideon Rozner, who spent six years at the IPA before working at an investment firm.
Fix Victoria is a separate entity to the IPA and its staff say it is coincidence that three of them previously worked at the thinktank, which is a long-term critic of Labor governments.
In November, Rozner told his social media followers that he was rejoining the Liberal party to support its new leader, Jess Wilson.
“The best place for me is to stand with the thousands of Victorians who will get around Jess Wilson to defeat this disgusting Labor government and save the great state of Victoria,” Rozner posted on X.
When asked by Guardian Australia whether he is still a member of the Liberal party, Rozner declines to answer but says: “I’ve been around for a long time – and my views and affiliations are well-known.”
Rozner says Fix Victoria is an “issues-driven, not politics-driven” organisation that wants to “ensure our leaders know that everyday Victorians want a plan to get out of the mess we are currently in”.
“Fix Victoria is focused on the three key issues dragging our state down, that being crime, corruption and debt,” Rozner says.
These three issues happen to be key talking points of opposition parties.
“Victoria’s tsunami of debt steals resources from policing so organised illegal tobacco criminals are making billions, recruiting vulnerable kids and making our streets unsafe,” one ۳۰-second Fix Victoria ad says.
‘Campaign groups exploiting loopholes’
A loophole in Victoria’s electoral laws means voters may never know who is ultimately funding these ads.
Groups publishing political ads during campaigns don’t need to be registered as third-party campaigners unless they specifically promote or oppose a party or a candidate.
The Centre for Public Integrity’s executive director, Catherine Williams, says Victoria’s laws are narrower in scope than their federal equivalent.
“Unless an entity meets the definition of third party campaigner, no disclosure obligations apply,” Williams says.
During the federal election campaign, mandatory donation disclosures by one third-party campaign group revealed it had been bankrolled by the coal lobby. The group had been attacking Labor, Greens and independent candidates.
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Transparency International Australia’s chief executive, Clancy Moore, says while Fix Victoria does not meet the legal threshold of a third-party campaign group, its ads are “clearly trying to influence voting”.
“It’s really important Victorians know who is behind these types of campaigns and what their political affiliations might be,” Moore says. “There is a long history of third-party and fake grassroots campaign groups exploiting loopholes in electoral laws to try to influence elections.”
Rozner says Fix Victoria has “invested considerable resources to ensure strict compliance with all relevant laws, in particular the Victorian Electoral Act”.
By avoiding reference to political parties or candidates, Fix Victoria’s financial backers are shielded from public view unless disclosed by the group itself.
“We place a very high priority on protecting the security and privacy of our members and supporters,” Rozner says.
Better Victoria was formed a month after Fix Victoria, with its first ads running on Facebook in early August. Its political content is endorsed by the group itself, rather than a office holder.
Listings with Consumer Affairs Victoria show its secretary is Ronald Holzer, a lawyer based in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfied North. Holzer says he only has an administrative role with the group.
He referred a series of questions from Guardian Australia to an unnamed spokesperson, who declined to say who was running the organisation.
“Better Victoria has obtained independent legal advice regarding its activities,” the spokesperson said. “It is confident that its activities are fully compliant with Victoria’s electoral laws.”
The spokesperson said the group had no relationship with any political party and was fully financed by donations from its members. Those donors will also remain hidden.
“Our members include people from a range of backgrounds and professions, who have exercised their right to privacy,” the spokesperson said.
‘They will have spent tens of thousands’
An advertising executive, Ed Coper, who worked with Climate ۲۰۰ and some teal candidates during the ۲۰۲۵ federal election, says the two groups are spending big.
Coper’s agency, Populares, has tracked their spending using public data and says they spent more on Google and Meta ads than any other state election candidate or party in August.
He says Fix Victoria spent just under $۱۰۰,۰۰۰ on ads, which was about a quarter of all the advertising spend related to the election. Better Victoria spent about $۴۰,۰۰۰.
The two groups also outspent the Liberals, teal independents and One Nation on social media advertising, according to Populares.
Then there’s the ad Fix Victoria ran in the middle of the AFL wildcard final between the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood on Channel Seven on ۲۸ August.
“They will have spent tens of thousands of dollars,” Coper says. “The actual content of their advertising is very, very similar to the way that a political operative will message during an election campaign.”
