Climate 200 donated $588k to anti-Liberal comedian

For the second election in a row a social media campaign run by comedian Dan Ilic is attacking Peter Dutton and promoting ‘teal’ independents.

A prominent comedian, who is bombarding social media with pro-‘teal’ and anti-Liberal messaging, runs a company which has previously received almost $600,000 in donations from Climate 200.

Dan Ilic, the director of It’s Not A Race, has refused to confirm if the political machine established by Simon Holmes a Court has paid his organisation more money in the lead-up to the May 3 election.

Climate 200, which will support more than 30 candidates in this campaign, boasting core values including integrity and transparency, also declined to provide details on any payments towards Mr Ilic’s new social media push.

Renewing his advertising blitz from 2022, where Mr Ilic described his company as “Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce’s worst nightmare”, popular Instagram and Tik-Tok accounts operated by It’s Not a Race have been flooded in recent weeks with a barrage of attacks on Peter Dutton and members of his party.

The satirical content includes comparing Liberal frontbenchers to The Muppets, images mocking Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and an actor impersonating Mr Dutton who makes off-colour remarks about mining magnate Gina Rinehart.

Dan Ilic’s company received $588,000 in donations from Climate 200 in 2022.

Other ads published by It’s Not A Race appear to have been curated to target seats where Climate 200 is supporting either a new candidate or the current MP, including Bradfield, Dickson, Monash, Wannon, Calare, Riverina, Mackellar and Kooyong.

Mr Ilic’s company released a video this week featuring well-known comedian and actress Julia Zemiro encouraging Australians to engage in “strategic voting.”

Memes by It’s Not A Race mocking Liberal frontbenchers. Pictures: Instagram

“Here’s how it works: in your electorate the Labor and Greens candidates might never get enough votes to win. But you’re fortunate to have a community-backed independent, who can win.

“All we need to do is add enough of that Labor and Greens vote to the independent vote. Then the Liberals lose a seat that Dutton needs to form government,” Ms Zemiro states.

On the main website for It’s Not A Race, Mr Ilic tells viewers he is seeking $300,000 to create content for the election.

“The choices of who will run this country will come down to Toxic Waste Peter and Coal Pusher Albo. And they are both funded by big fossil fuels who will win either way.

“This election, if we can put a few more climate action oriented cross-bench in, then climate change will be taken seriously by the Australian government for the very first time” he said.

This publication can reveal It’s Not A Race was the recipient of $588,000 worth of donations from Climate 200 during the previous election campaign, when the company was coordinating a similar social media onslaught on the then-Morrison government.

It’s Not A Race has published many anti-Liberal ads in seats where Climate 200-supported candidates are running, including these pictures showing Mackellar and Wannon. Picture: Instagram.

In an interview published on April 12, 2022, Mr Ilic said: “We are just really trying to unseat the Coalition … we’re just trying to rattle the cage wherever we can.”

According to the Electoral Commission’s Transparency Register, Mr Ilic’s company received three donations from Climate 200 on April 21, 2022 totalling $495,000.

An additional payment was received on May 4, 2022, for $93,500.

When Australians went to the polls on May 21 of that year, candidates supported by Climate 200 won seven lower house seats — ending decades of dominance in traditional blue-ribbon strongholds.

Mr Ilic, a comedian and writer who has worked in both commercial television and the ABC, has played an official role at Climate 200 events in recent years.

One of the satirical attacks on Peter Dutton and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price published on It's Not A Race. Picture: Supplied

That includes hosting the launch of Mr Holmes a Court’s book The Big Teal, and appearing at functions and campaign launches for MPs including Allegra Spender, Dr Sophie Scamps, Kylea Tink and Zoe Daniel.

This masthead put a range of questions to Mr Ilic about his political advertising blitz and his company’s relationship with Climate 200.

Mr Ilic said: “All major donors are publicly available through the AEC website, and other compliance bodies.

“We also have thousands of other donors who chip in to help us on our mission to make and distribute satirical memes about climate wreckers.

“If the Coalition were serious about climate action we would gratefully stop making jokes about them… it’s a lot of work.”

He did not answer specific questions on the nature of these donations, and declined to respond when asked if Climate 200 had provided additional funds ahead of the forthcoming election.

Neither Mr Ilic’s company It’s Not A Race or Climate 200 are registered political parties, they are considered by the Australian Electoral Commission to be “significant third-parties”, similar to unions or the likes of GetUp! and Advance Australia.

In a statement the AEC said: “There are no rules preventing the receipt of money from one significant third-party to another.”

Social media influencers and content creators have been advised by the AEC that if they are “communicating electoral matter by or on behalf of a political entity … or a registered significant third party… the communication must be authorised.”

However an AEC spokesperson indicated it would need to prove that donations were made to create specific political content.

“Our focus during an election is mainly to ensure that authorisation messages are in place for content that requires it,” the AEC spokesperson said.

Dan Ilic at Simon Holmes a Court’s book launch in 2022. Picture: Instagram

Dan Ilic alongside Climate 200 MPs Allegra Spender (left) and Dr Sophie Scamps. Pictures: Instagram

All of the new social media content on It’s Not A Race says it is “authorised by Dan Ilic, Sydney.”

Political donations received for this election campaign will not be released to the public until October, with a further release in February 2026, in accordance with electoral rules.

Climate 200 declined to answer detailed questions about its donations to It’s Not A Race, simply telling this masthead it had been “excited to get behind” Mr Ilic after witnessing his “internationally acclaimed billboard campaign” in New York.

Mr Ilic raised $140,000 in 2021 to post a “climate-crisis” billboard in Times Square, which warned: “Cuddle a Koala before we make them extinct. Limited Time Offer.”

Data from Meta, which includes Facebook and Instagram, indicated Climate 200 outspent the federal government on social media advertising last month.

Mr Holmes a Court told the National Press Club in March: “We don’t get into the weeds and run any of those campaigns.

“We run advertising campaigns to lift the salience of issues or to make people aware of independents.”

Originally published as Climate 200 donated $588k to anti-Liberal comedian