Federal election: Tasmanian Senate seat targeted in Facebook political ad spending spree

Senator Jacqui Lambie is so far outspending her Senate rivals on social media by a large margin. See who else is spending big and where.

Tasmania has become a big target in an election ad spending spree on Facebook, with minor parties splashing major cash for a chance to pick up a Senate seat in the state.

Senator Jacqui Lambie is so far outspending her Senate rivals on social media by a large margin, while voters in the northwest seat of Braddon may find it hard to avoid Liberal Party ads on Facebook.

This spending bucks the national trend, however, as an analysis shows Labor is spending big online, splashing four times as much cash on social media as its major rivals, and even running 330 ads at once.

Tasmanian voters have become big targets for political advertising on Facebook in past weeks, with more than $103,000 spent on election ads in the region since the election was called.

The state is also the second biggest target for Senate advertising on the platform, according to the University of Queensland, with more than $21,000 spent on Senate ads targeting Tasmanians.

Ms Lambie’s ads account for half that sum, though Greens Senator Nick McKim and One Nation candidate Steve Mav have each spent more than $3000 on the social network since April 10.

Greens Senator Nick McKim has sent more than $3000 on Facebook advertising since April 10. Picture: AAP

The electorate of Braddon has also seen major spending by sitting Liberal MP Gavin Pearce, who won the seat from Labor in 2019. Candidates have spent more than $10,000 on Facebook ads in the electorate.

UQ political scientist Dr Glenn Kefford, who created a tool to crunch Facebook ad data, said this election had seen much higher spending on social media due to its growing audience and the bigger budgets of independent candidates.

“The amount of money the independents are spending is really significant and unprecedented historically,” he said.

“Some of them are spending $4000 or $5000 a week on Instagram ads. Candidates from major parties don’t normally spend that.”

An analysis of the major political parties’ spending across both Facebook and Google platforms showed Labor had the deepest pockets by far, with the party and its leader paying more than $247,000 for Facebook ads and $223,000 on Google ads in a week.

By comparison, the Liberal Party and Prime Minister Scott Morrison spent less than half that amount on its Google and Facebook ads combined, though many of their advertisements were more negative, using memes to mock leader Anthony Albanese.

Braddon MP Gavin Pearce MP, pictured with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, has contributed to the more than $10,000 spent on Facebook advertising in his electorate. Picture: Jason Edwards

Australian National University political marketing expert Dr Andrew Hughes said the parties’ online spending exposed different campaign strategies this election.

Labor was taking a “broad target” approach, Dr Hughes said, with big spending designed to spread its message nationwide, and lock in existing supporters.

Dr Hughes said Labor’s spending had been consistently high, though the party had invested in more negative ads towards the campaign’s halfway point.

“A lot of the negative ads started after Anzac Day, touting ‘no more mistakes, no more excuses’,” he said.

“They’re targeting undecided voters with these ads — they are Labor’s biggest fear — and according to these ads they’re targeting Queensland and New South Wales.”

But the Liberal Party’s move to run fewer but more targeted ads could be a solid strategy, Dr Hughes said, if the party aimed its message to the right audiences and in marginal seats.

“Just because you’re running hundreds of ads does not mean that it’s going to be successful and it does not mean you’re good at digital,” he said.

“It’s like getting 58 text messages from someone trying to ask you out on a date.”

But both major parties are being outspent by billionaire former MP Clive Palmer.

His United Australia Party has spent more than $15.2 million on election ads with Google, including $1 million in just one week.