Oolite Bulletins

Wildeblood wrote:

Come off it! Next you'll claim the Australian Conservation Foundation isn't a front for the ALP, or Narconon isn't a front for Scientology.

I'm as big a cynic as anyone.. but without evidence to the contrary, even I'm inclined to accept that GetUp! are nothing more than what they claim to be.. a genuine, ordinary grass-roots movement, not some astroturf organisation created by vested interests.

Diziet Sma wrote:

Wildeblood wrote:

Come off it! Next you'll claim the Australian Conservation Foundation isn't a front for the ALP, or Narconon isn't a front for Scientology.

I'm as big a cynic as anyone.. but without evidence to the contrary, even I'm inclined to accept that GetUp! are nothing more than what they claim to be.. a genuine, ordinary grass-roots movement, not some astroturf organisation created by vested interests.

So where does their money come from? Because it's fairly obvious GetUp! is well-funded compared to genuine grass-roots organizations like the Institute for Public Affairs or the Minerals Council.

According to this very professional-, unbiased- and objective-looking website I found, GetUp! is a front for shadowy billionaire fund manager George Soros. That seems believable.

According to this less reputable-looking website:

Sydney Morning Herald, November 13, 2010 wrote:

THE advocacy group GetUp! accepted a record $1.12 million donation from a large union just before the federal election, at the same time supporting a ban on political donations from unions and business.

The donation from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union funded a prominent TV advertisement that attacked the Liberal leader Tony Abbott's ''archaic'' views on women and social issues in the days before the election in August.

It went to air as a GetUp! advertisement with no reference to being largely funded by a big Labor-affiliated union.

And this dodgy-looking website says:

Busiess Insider, July 11 2014 wrote:

Former leader of Australian advocacy group GetUp! and Australian Greens candidate Simon Sheikh is moving into a career in fund management.
...
Between 2008 and 2012 Sheikh was the national director of political group GetUp!

During his tenure he campaigned for the carbon tax and increased funding for mental health.

He also ran as the Green’s ACT candidate in the 2013 election. His platform included protecting jobs in Canberra, marriage equality, and trying to stop the Liberal Party from gaining a majority in the Senate.

Look like astroturfers for the Labor/Greens alliance to me. But, that's not what makes them interesting. What makes them relevant to this discussion is how incredibly stupid they are.

Check this out: Kiwi PM meets Aussie PM.

We love youse guys. A lot. Crikey, dun't these Ossies evuh stup coming, bro?