Anthony Albanese hits back at ‘fear campaign’ and ‘misinformation’ in outraged newspaper ad

Anthony Albanese hits back at right-wing advocacy group Advance A fierce attack ad targeting the prime minister.

Advance, which spearheaded the No Campaign for Indigenous Voices to Parliament, has its sights set on dealing another blow to Mr Albanese in the by-election for Melbourne’s Dunkley seat.

On Thursday, the lobbying group published a visually striking full-page ad in Melbourne tabloid the Herald Sun, featuring an image of a sullen-looking Mr Albanese and calling him a “rapist, pedophile and murderer. He directly accused the government of allowing “persons” to go unchecked.

“Arbo, you opened the doors of the immigration detention center and freed 149 criminals,” the ad reads in bold colors of red, black and white.

“You paid a lawyer to get you released.”

The ad references a November High Court ruling that ruled the Australian government’s indefinite detention of refugees was illegal because it gave politicians powers reserved to the courts.

As a result, 149 asylum seekers who had been detained indefinitely were released as they were deemed too dangerous to be on the streets and had no other country to send them to.

“Tell me, Prime Minister, how many people are there in Dunkley?” Please let us know by March 2nd. ” the ad ends, referring to the date of the by-election.

Approximately 24 of the released detainees have been charged with new crimes since their release.

Asked about the Advance ad on Melbourne radio station 3AW on Thursday, Mr Albanese accused Advance Australia of fear-mongering and spreading misinformation.

Mr Albanese told Melbourne radio station 3AW: “I think people will look at that ad and understand what it’s all about, which is intended to scare people and scare people.”

“Our first priority is to keep Australians safe. Australians know this is a decision of the High Court of Australia and the government must follow the law.

“It’s disappointing because I don’t want to see Australia, which is so polarized, go down America’s path.

“We can disagree on issues, but we should always strive to have respectful and fact-based discussions, not just fear-mongering.”

Advance defended the ad.

“It is pathetic and upsetting that any scrutiny of Anthony Albanese’s decisions should be met with accusations of ‘misinformation’,” a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

“His Labor government has allowed and paid for lawyers to argue for the release of these dangerous criminals from immigration detention. This is a fact.’

“We know there are 40 people on the run in Victoria. This is also true.

“The idea that Australians shouldn’t be allowed to ask how many people live in their suburbs is just ridiculous.”

The Albanon government’s Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, has authorized the taxpayer-funded Australian Human Rights Commission to join a High Court case arguing that indefinite immigration detention is illegal.

On June 5, Mr. Dreyfus approved this, as long as it was clear that the committee was acting independently and not on behalf of the government, according to the document.

The Advance ad has been condemned by asylum seeker advocates.

“This is published in today’s Herald Sun at Advance Australia’s expense. White supremacy remains strong in Australia,” Asylum Seeker Resource Center CEO Kon Karapanagiotis said.

Multicultural Council of Australia member and former footballer Craig Foster criticized the ad, saying it was “exploring new depths”.“That shouldn’t happen in a multicultural country,” he said.

Melbourne-based marketing and communications guru Adam Ferrier said political attack ads were on the rise because they worked.

“The human brain has what’s called a negativity bias, which means we pay more attention to negative stimuli than to positive ones,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

“Donald Trump taught us that you can say anything, and if it gets attention, it will work.

Advance, which changed its name from Advance Australia in May, will reportedly commit $200,000 to Dunkley of the $5.1 million in donations the group received last year.

The group used the war chest to fund a campaign against a referendum that would have given Indigenous voices to parliament, with more than 60 per cent of voters rejecting Indigenous groups in the Oct. 14 referendum. It was a huge victory.

Advance was formed in 2018 by former Liberal Party staffer Gerardo Benedetto as a counter-organisation to the left-wing group GetUp!.and copied their emailAn election strategy that runs negative advertisements against political opponents rather than defending the political party.