Kirsten Robb

1 week ago | abc.net.au | Pat McGrath |Kirsten Robb

A coal industry-funded group campaigning against progressive candidates in the federal election has deleted two months of social media posts after being pulled up by the Australian Electoral Commission over unauthorised content. Australians for Prosperity, which electoral records show has received $725,000 in donations from Coal Australia, also deactivated ads on Instagram and Facebook late last week. Some of the ads feature vox pop-style interviews with voters in seats held by Teal independents.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Pat McGrath |Kirsten Robb |Steve Cannane

The Liberal Party's replacement for its dumped candidate in the NSW seat of Whitlam is a director of a pro-gas group accused of misleading voters ahead of next month's federal election. The revelation has prompted calls for the Liberal Party to disclose if it has collaborated with the group, Australians for Natural Gas, which is being coordinated by the party's internal pollster, Freshwater Strategy.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Pat McGrath |Kirsten Robb

An ABC investigation has revealed the Coalition's internal pollster is working on a campaign to boost support for the gas industry using a method known as '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 on social media... ahead of the election.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Pat McGrath |Kirsten Robb

The Coalition's internal pollster is helping orchestrate a campaign to boost public support for the gas industry ahead of the federal election in what has been described as "textbook astroturfing". An ABC investigation has discovered the public relations and research firm Freshwater Strategy is working with Australians for Natural Gas, which claims to be a grassroots movement representing households and small business.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Dan Oakes |Kirsten Robb |Mayeta Clark |Maryanne Taouk

It takes less than 30 seconds after entering a store in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs before we have a pack of illicit cigarettes in our hands. There are no screening questions. No suspicious looks. In fact, the black-market tobacconist — on Buckley Street in the bustling suburb of Noble Park — is having a sale on Manchester cigarettes. "It's still on special — $13," the cashier says. The store quickly fills with more people waiting to be served. Metres away is another tobacconist.