An “independent, community-driven association” that ran anti-Labor adverts during the last federal election was entirely funded by a coal industry lobby group, the Guardian can reveal.
Energy for Australians accepted more than $1m from Coal Australia – a group advocating for coal whose members include major miners Yancoal, Peabody, New Hope and Whitehaven.
One expert on climate and energy lobbying said the Energy for Australians campaign “had all the hallmarks of astroturfing” – a form of lobbying where groups are backed by corporate interests while claiming to be community-led.
According to figures from Meta’s ad library, the group spent $135,620 on 62 Facebook adverts focusing on energy costs in the weeks running up to the 2025 federal election.
People who saw the adverts, which garnered at least 3.5m impressions, were told to “switch off Labor” and that “if you can’t afford power, can’t afford Labor.”
Disclosures to the Australian Electoral Commission show Energy for Australians was a “significant third-party” and declared $1,083,061 in receipts from donors – all from Coal Australia – and $803,495 in election spending.
An archive of Energy for Australians website – which is no longer live – shows the organisation described itself as “an independent, community-driven association, dedicated to achieving energy independence through a practical mix of nuclear, coal, gas, and renewable technologies”.
Prof Christian Downie, an expert on co-ordinated campaigns to block climate action at the Australian National University, said Energy for Australians had “all the hallmarks of astroturfing because its name and description give the impression that it is a legitimate community group, when in reality it is a front group funded directly by Coal Australia”.
Downie said organisations like Energy for Australians were being used “to mislead the public and political leaders” by “giving the false impression there is widespread support or opposition for an issue or policy”.
“This type of astroturfing has now become a common feature distorting Australian election campaigns,” he said.
Claire Snyder, executive director of Climate Integrity, a group campaigning for transparency around corporate climate and energy issues, said it was “not obvious at all” to anyone who would have seen the advertising that it was funded by a coal industry group.
“If companies wouldn’t publish those ideas on their own social media accounts, why are they funding these adverts at all? Energy for Australians is an unknown brand. Now we know who was paying for that partisan political advertising,” she said.
A cross-party Senate inquiry last month said the government should “explore ways” to ensure greater transparency in political campaigns, including the creation of third party groups such as Energy for Australians that were funded by corporate interests.
Energy for Australians is registered as an incorporated association in NSW and its public officer is Sydney accountant Samuel Lee, who authorised the advertising using the same address as his company, Atlas Chartered Accountants.
The Guardian sent questions to Samuel Lee about the nature of the organisation and if it was fair for it to claim independence.
Lee told the Guardian he was “not a part of Energy for Australians” and so would not answer questions about the funding of the advertising campaign. He said Energy for Australians was a client, but refused to forward questions or provide any contact.
He said: “Regarding the authorisation of campaign material, they gave me the material to review, I did a commonsense check, Googled a few claims and facts to make sure they weren’t obviously wrong, made sure there wasn’t anything violent or sexual in nature then approved.
“I never needed to send anything back. I had no other input or control.”
A spokesperson for Coal Australia said its donations to third parties “aim to inject factual awareness and debate on Australia’s energy policies” as well as other issues.
Coal Australia had “no association” with Samuel Lee, the spokesperson said. Coal Australia had told a Senate inquiry that “not only does it not engage in so-called astroturfing, but we do not believe it works”.
Coal Australia has become a significant funder of third-party political campaigns.
The group heavily funded Australians for Prosperity which ran ads attacking Labor, Greens and independent candidates at the last federal election.
During the Queensland state election, Coal Australia gave $600,000 to a Liberal-aligned thinktank that ran state election adverts attacking the Greens.
