Independent candidates and transparency advocates have called it a “push poll” — an election tactic that attempts to sway people’s opinions. Here’s why.

Not just any text message

The survey mentioned only two party candidates by name; Liberal Party members Ro Knox (Wentworth) and Tim Wilson (Goldstein), and teal MPs Spender (Wentworth) and Daniel (Goldstein), as well as the Labor, Greens and One Nation parties.

Simon Holmes à Court is the founder of Climate 200 and his father Robert was Australia’s first billionaire, but is not one himself, rather, a multi-millionaire.

The poll stated that Spender was a Teal MP, rather than independent, that she received money from a billionaire rather than a millionaire. Source: Supplied

The political funding Climate 200 provides is crowd-funded by the community and not by an individual backer. While the organisation does have several wealthy donors, its November 2024 donation statistics show an average donation of $95, with 88 per cent of donations under $100, according to The Guardian.

Push polling often uses text messaging to send surveys to voters. Source: Getty / Tom Werner

Mark Davis, secretary and director at the Australian Polling Council, an association of polling firms, confirmed that Intelligent Dialogue was not a member of the council.

A Liberal Party spokesperson told The Guardian: “The Liberal Party has nothing to do with this survey”.

Leatch also said: “Yabbr provides services across the political spectrum, and does not have any party affiliations”.

What’s the deal with push polls?

It was pioneered by former US president Richard Nixon in the 1940s, when voters were asked the question by anonymous callers over the phone, “Did you know that Jerry Voorhis (Nixon’s 1946 opponent for a seat in Congress) is a communist?” — which was untrue.

President Richard Nixon is said to have pioneered push polling in the 1940s. Source: AAP

It has been used in several elections since; in 2008 Jewish voters were asked if they would vote for former US president Barack Obama if he was supported by Hamas — again a false insinuation.

“I think the most powerful strategies are sprinkling doubt,” said Dr Frank Mols, senior lecturer in political science and international studies at the University of Queensland.

Is push polling legal?

Mols says push polling can be effective by asking questions that make candidates appear more popular than they are — or by encouraging voters to question politician’s acts or intentions.

“It was so effective because you didn’t need to say what was in those [leaked] emails or what was happening. You just had to say, well: there’s something that needs investigating.”

‘Ethics pushed into the background’

With the election looming, Mols said voters should be mindful about who engages them.

“We need to sort of wise up a little bit.”